Raven Louise Potter
by MusicLover19
Summary: Charlie Weasley, Bill Weasley, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger and Raven Potter wake to find themselves in a room with an unusual task. Read as the group learn of the lies given to them and the truth about their lives. Not your typical female!Harry story, Raven/Charlie. More people may be added as the books continue.
1. Chapter 1

**Raven Louise Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**

**Chapter One**

Raven opened her eyes slowly. Her head pounded as she attempted to move. She found herself sat on a couch, sat next to a red haired man that seemed to be asleep. Raven found herself smiling softly at the sight of him, it had been a while for her to admit to herself that she had feelings for the red-haired male.

Looking around, Raven found her best friend laid on another couch, her head on the shoulder of a blonde haired male. Smiling to herself at the sight, Raven let herself fall back on the couch she was on. Her head went to the shoulder of the male body next to her as she sighed in content.

Slowly, her eyes drifted close once more.

Raven awoke to a rather large scream. She shot up from the couch and looked around the room wildly.

Her best friend, Hermione Granger, was the one who had screamed. Around her was one blonde, from the Malfoy family. Draco himself, looked as shocked and frightened as Hermione did.

"Draco!" she gasped, causing all heads to look at her.

"Hello Ray," he smiled back.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked, a frown set on his frightened face.

"It seems we all woke up here, can anyone remember what was happening before we fell asleep?" Raven asked, her eyes scanning the bare room that held two couches.

"I was in the common room with you," Hermione said timidly.

"The dorm," Draco answered.

"There's a letter," the red head next to Raven pointed out before picking up. He quickly ran his eyes over it before reading it out loud.

_Hello everyone,_

_I apologise from taking you from your normal day-to-day activities, however, it is highly important for you all to know the truth. One of you has been used and manipulated to a frightening extent. I am sorry but there is no better way to explain this than to show you all._

_Raven, I am aware that you will hate what is being done. For that I apologise once more. I have brought those close to you here, these people you can trust. Do not be ashamed of the past, all of us were fooled, and I am sure we will be once more._

_Build new friendships and forgive past fights, do not forget. History allows us to stay alive, if we do not learn from the past we are doomed to make the same mistakes._

_I will not leave a name, it is better if you do not know me._

_The table that this letter was on will hold a book underneath. It is essential that you read this book. In total there are seven books, after finishing one, place it where you found it and the next book will take its place._

_Parts of these books will be difficult but it will help._

_Take care and learn._

"Books?" Hermione asked, her posture relaxing.

"Books," Raven answered with a laugh.

"I don't understand, why are being made to read?" Draco asked.

"To learn the letter said," Charlie Weasley smiled.

"Why is there only four of us?" Hermione frowned.

"We'll find out soon," Raven smiled sadly.

Charlie placed the letter back where it was and looked under the table for the book.

Once he found it he sat back next to Raven once more, stretching and moving his arm around her back. Raven smiled and leant into him.

"Shall we start?" Charlie asked.

"Go ahead," Hermione smiled, sitting timidly next to Draco.

"Loosen up," Raven smiled. "We know he's nice!"

"I still don't feel right," Hermione frowned.

Charlie laughed as he opened the book, another note fell out onto his lap. Raven quickly picked it up and read it.

_By this point it has probably been questioned why there is so little of you. There is a door on the right and behind it should be more people. William Weasley, Fred Weasley and George Weasley. These are people that can be trusted, however, it will be hard to keep them all calm at times. _

_I have decided against adding other adults, it could become hard for you all to handle._

_Good luck._

"That's mean," Hermione frowned as she stood up to go to the door.

As she reached the door and pushed it open, the room that was behind her expanded and produced more couches and chairs.

"Hermione!" Fred and George shouted. "Where are we?"

"I'm not too sure, it might be better if you all come through here though…" she trailed off as the three people pushed past her.

"So why are we here?" Bill asked as he fell back onto a couch, he saw Charlie's arm and his eyebrow rose.

"To read apparently," Raven said as she blushed slightly but made no move to move.

"What are these books about then?" Fred asked, reading the notes.

"We aren't too sure," Charlie said. "We were going to read before we were told about you all."

"Let's read then!" George cheered, sitting back merrily.

Charlie coughed as he opened the book once more.

"There isn't a title?" Hermione frowned.

"Can I just read?" Charlie asked with a frown.

"Go on," Raven smiled.

"Right," Charlie smiled.

**Chapter 1 – The Girl Who Lived**

Raven groaned as Charlie's arm around her tightened.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. **

Charlie smiled sadly as he moved his arm from around Raven's shoulders. He brought his hand between them and held her hand in silent comfort, ensuring their hands were hidden from the others in the room.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be in volved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

Hermione frowned, knowing full well Raven lived with these people.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, al though he did have a very large moustache.**

"He sounds lovely," Bill frowned.

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck,**

"She sounds like the complete opposite of her husband," Draco said lightly.

"She isn't so different from him, only in looks," Raven admitted.

**which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours.**

"What a ghastly woman!" Hermione gasped.

**The Dursley's had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy any where.**

Raven shook her head as she processed, she knew they thought it but it was still hard to hear.

**The Dursley's had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.**

"It's probably nothing interesting," Bill frowned.

**They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. **

**The Dursley's shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursley's knew that the Potters had a small daughter, too, but they had never even seen her. **

"Why haven't they made the effort to meet their niece?"

"Because my parents are magical Bill," Raven said simply.

"That is still no reason," he huffed.

**This girl was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"They make it sound like you're a murderer," Bill frowned.

"In their eyes I probably am," Raven smiled sadly.

"You shouldn't have to deal with it," Charlie whispered to her as he squeezed her hand again.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happen ing all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"Is it only me that finds this horrifying?" Draco whispered to Hermione, feeling unsure of speaking out loud in front of everyone.

"I find it sickening," Hermione whispered back.

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

Raven stayed silent, thinking of Mrs. Figg, perhaps it was for her.

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. **

**"Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. **

Hermione's jaw stiffened.

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map. **

"That is unusual," Bill smiled.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. **

"The light couldn't do that much," Bill frowned, his eyes moving over to his twin brothers, worried about their lack of contribution.

**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Durs ley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. **

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. **

"Oh my, they were rather careless that day weren't we?" Hermione frowned.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdo's standing quite close by. They were whis pering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt — these people were obviously collecting for some thing … yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

"He doesn't think of much else does he Ray?" Charlie asked lightly.

"Nope," Raven smiled. "He's pretty narrow minded."

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped over head. Most of them had never seen an owl even at night time. **

"Really?" Bill asked excited. "Never?"

"They aren't used that often," Hermione replied.

**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important tele phone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Does he really need a bun?" George asked snidely.

"Of course he does George, he cannot live without them," Fred replied stiffly.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"I wonder what they were talking about?" Bill frowned.

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard —"**

**"— yes, their daughter, Raven —"**

"And so it begins," Raven sighed to herself.

"How did they all find out though? That is what I want to know," Charlie said.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking … no, he was being stupid. **

"At least he admits it," Fred said, attempting to dissolve the tense atmosphere.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Pot ter who had a daughter called Raven. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his niece was called Raven. **

Several cries of outrage sounded the room.

**He'd never even seen the girl. It might have been Rachel. Or Renee. **

"They don't have the same ring to them," George snickered.

**There was no point in wor rying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her — if he'd had a sister like that … but all the same, those people in cloaks …**

"I hate him already," George frowned.

"You were biased to begin with," Raven pointed out.

"I don't care," George replied.

"He certainly sounds like a horrible man," Bill said, backing George up.

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

"Poor person," Charlie muttered under his breath.

**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being al most knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Re joice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like your self should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

"I have lost hope for the magical race," Hermione sighed.

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

George and Fred frowned at that.

"Imagination is a huge part of growing up," George stated.

"It is essential," Fred agreed.

"Don't worry, I have plenty of imagination," Raven smiled.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw — and it didn't improve his mood — was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"Somebody is watching the house?" Bill frowned.

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. **

"I completely agree with you," Charlie stated, his frustration increasing.

**Was this nor mal cat behaviour? **

"Nope!" Fred smiled.

**Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself to gether, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

"Coward," Draco muttered.

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over din ner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

"This is so boring," Fred complained.

_**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern."**_** The newscaster al lowed himself a grin. **_**"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**_

_**"Well, Ted,"**_** said the weatherman, **_**"I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**_

"That really isn't good," Hermione frowned.

"How the muggles didn't find out about us is amazing," Draco agreed.

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters …**

"He's putting it together," Bill moaned.

"He did have previous knowledge," Charlie pointed out.

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er — Petunia, dear — you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

"He really doesn't have a backbone," Hermione frowned.

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. Af ter all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls … shooting stars … and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today …"**

**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought … maybe … it was something to do with … you know … her crowd."**

"I swear if I ever meet them I will not be friendly," Bill said stiffly.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their daughter — she'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't she?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's her name again? Robin, isn't it?"**

**"Raven. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"How is it common?" Fred asked.

"It's a bloody bird!" George stated.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front gar den. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? **

'_Nope, unfortunately_,' Raven thought

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? **

"Yep, it seems to always involve a Potter," Hermione snickered.

**If it did … if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursley's got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind. … He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on — he yawned and turned over — it couldn't affect them. …**

"Famous last words they are," Bill said.

**How very wrong he was.**

"See!"

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far cor ner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

"Defiantly someone watching the house," Bill stated.

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, ap peared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes nar rowed.**

"Oh no, who is it?" Hermione frowned.

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

"So it's all safe," Hermione sighed.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwel come. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for some thing. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

"Who is it then?" Bill frowned.

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

"Cool," the twins both said.

**He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into dark ness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"McGonagall?" several people gasped in shock.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"He has probably seen her change so many times he knows her form," Fred said lightly.

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

"Why has it taken them all day to move you?" Draco asked angrily.

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no — even the Mug gles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursley's dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls … shooting stars. … Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shoot ing stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"He's fun though," Bill laughed.

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, **

"He never does," Raven said bitterly.

**but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

"No," everyone in the room said together.

**"It certainly seems so," **

"He knew didn't he?" Charlie said through gritted teeth.

"He said he suspected it," Raven said, squeezing his hand.

**said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

**"A what?"**

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"Is it really the right time for lemon drops?" Fred asked.

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone —"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dum bledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to no tice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was fright ened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"Only because you're too — well — noble to use them."**

**"It's lucky its dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"He is crazy," Raven whispered to Charlie who snickered.

"I know," he replied to her, loud enough for the rest of the room to hear and look at the two of them with curiosity in their eyes.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disap peared? About what finally stopped him?"**

The room sobered instantly, each knowing what would come next.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Vol demort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Pot ters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they're — dead."**

Raven shivered, no matter how often she heard it, the words connected together always hurt her. She had accepted their death and she knew that it was neither their nor her fault. Hearing their names in a sentence with the word dead also hit her.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James … I can't believe it … I didn't want to believe it … Oh, Albus …"**

Raven smiled sadly. She wished that she could know everything about them, that she grew up with them and knew for sure that they loved her.

She glanced at Charlie who was watching her with concern dancing in his eyes.

She hoped that they truly loved each other and enjoyed their limited time together. Nothing can beat love, that was something Raven had learnt.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, she smiled as weakly as she could, hoping beyond hope that these books would bring tales of her parents.

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know … I know …" he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potters' daughter, Raven. But — he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little girl. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Raven Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke — and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's — it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done … all the people he's killed … he couldn't kill a little girl? It's just astounding … of all the things to stop him … but how in the name of heaven did Raven survive?"**

"We would all like to know that," Bill sighed.

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"Bull," Bill said blankly. "I'll eat a hippogriff if he is being truthful."

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; in stead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

"He went to damn Raven to a horrible childhood," Hermione hissed.

**"I've come to bring Raven to her aunt and uncle. They're the only family she has left now."**

"Only on her mother's side," Draco said softly.

**"You don't mean — you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore — you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Raven Potter come and live here!"**

**"It's the best place for her," said Dumbledore firmly. "Her aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when she's older. I've written them a letter."**

Raven bit back the bitter laugh that wanted to escape.

"A letter?" Hermione whispered.

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! She'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Raven Potter Day in the future — there will be books written about Raven — every child in our world will know her name!"**

"Almost true," Fred laughed.

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any girl's head. Famous before she can walk and talk! Famous for something she won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off she'll be, growing up away from all that until she's ready to take it?"**

"It isn't his choice to make," George frowned.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course. But how is the girl getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak sud denly as though she thought he might be hiding Raven underneath it.**

"He better not be!" Hermione gasped.

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it — wise — to trust Hagrid with something as im portant as this?"**

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?"**

"What?" Bill asked, worry etching his voice.

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"Awww, little Raven," Hermione cooed.

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climb ing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got her, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got her out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. She fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby girl, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over her forehead they could see a cu riously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

**"Is that where — ?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "She'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

"He probably wouldn't try," Charlie said.

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Un derground. Well — give her here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Raven in his arms and turned toward the Dursley's house.**

"I cannot believe he is leaving you with them," Bill said.

**"Could I — could I say good-bye to her, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Raven and gave her what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

Raven smiled.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Mug gles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handker chief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it — Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Raven off ter live with Muggles —"**

**"Yes, yes, its all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm**

"So very caring isn't she?" Draco laughed.

**as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Raven gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Raven's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"Please tell me he isn't just leaving you there?" Bill asked, his voice hoarse as the anger threatened to consume him.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'd best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumble dore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

"He actually is," Bill whispered.

"How can he just do that?" Hermione asked. "From the looks of it, he didn't even put spells in place to keep her safe!"

**"Good luck, Raven," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

"The leader of the light leaves a defenceless baby on a doorstep," Draco muttered.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Raven Potter rolled over inside her blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside her and she slept on, not knowing she was special, not know ing she was famous, not knowing she would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that she would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley. … She couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Raven Potter — the girl who lived!"**

"I cannot believe that!" Hermione said.

"How about we keep reading?" Charlie sighed, knowing that their anger wouldn't do any good. He passed the book onto Raven who opened it and watched as another note fluttered from the pages.

_**AN: Let me know what you guys think, should I keep going?**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: Wow! I got a great response from that first chapter. Over 20 reviews! I find it so hard to believe. I must say that I am overwhelmed and if you reviewed I cannot thank you enough (also, if I haven't replied yet, I will do at some point today! I promise!). Again, thank you all so much.**_

**Chapter Two**

Raven took a breath before reading the note, half dreading what was written on the paper.

_You have probably gathered what this book is about by now. Raven, when reading you cannot leave anything out. If you do the book will glow and an alarm will sound._

_I am not doing this to be mean, it is important that they know the truth._

_I do apologise for the awkwardness in advance in the later books._

Raven paused, looking at the next sentence that was written in a different style. Shaking her head she continued.

_In total there are three of us, at least one will be monitoring the group. We want this to be as easy as possible. The monitors will be turned off at night and turned back on throughout the day. If you have a question we will do our best to answer it, however, some things must be kept quiet until the end._

Once again the writing changed.

_There are two more people that will be arriving soon. Hopefully it shall not be too far into the chapter._

_We wish you the best during the readings!_

_Love SD, __FD, __DD_

"They seem like a cherry bunch," Bill said sarcastically.

"It could always be worse though," Fred pointed out. "We could be dead!"

Raven rolled her eyes and opened the book once more, looking at the chapter title she groaned.

**Chapter 2 – The Vanishing Glass**

"I wonder what this is about," George laughed.

"What do you do?" Charlie asked Raven who hit his arm lightly.

"I did nothing, what did you do?" she replied.

"I only asked a question," he replied, sticking his tongue out.

"Just read please before we get into an argument!" George groaned, regretting his first words that seemed to have set them off.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursley's had woken up to find their niece on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. **

As Raven read, her voice took a bitter tone. Her eyes were narrowed and most people avoided looking at the annoyed girl.

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gar dens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursley's front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. **

"How can anyone stay the same for so long?" Fred asked.

"They like normal," Charlie pointed out.

"But change is normal!" George said exasperated.

**Only the photographs on the mantel piece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bonnets — but Dudley Durs ley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another girl lived in the house, too.**

"Is it too much to hope you got moved?" Bill sighed.

"Of course it is," Charlie frowned.

**Yet Raven Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. Her Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

"I really do feel for you," Bill frowned.

"I dealt with it rather easily," Raven shrugged.

**"Up! Get up! Now!"**

**Raven woke with a start. Her aunt rapped on the door again.**

**"Up!" she screeched. Raven heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.**

"How did you hear all that?" Hermione gasped.

"I hear a lot of things I shouldn't," Raven smirked weakly.

**She rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream she had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. She had a funny feeling she'd had the same dream before.**

"You did," Draco laughed.

Fred and George shared a look, both deciding to have a chat with Malfoy as soon as possible.

**Her aunt was back outside the door.**

**"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"She barely gave you any time!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Don't stress about it," Raven muttered as she nudged Charlie with her shoulder.

"Why shouldn't he stress? It's barbaric!" Bill mumbled.

**"Nearly," said Raven.**

"I don't understand how you can be so calm," Hermione muttered.

**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. **

"You had to cook?" George asked, turning to Raven.

"Just here and there," she muttered, causing Hermione to frown.

"How well can you cook then Ray?" Fred said, winking at her.

"Pretty darn well if I do say so myself," she laughed.

**And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

**Raven groaned.**

**"What did you say?" Her aunt snapped through the door.**

"Nothing!" Charlie said harshly.

"You are aware this is a book aren't you?" Raven asked.

"Yes, a book that is about your life," Charlie grounded out.

**"Nothing, nothing …"**

**Dudley's birthday — how could she have forgotten? Raven got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. She found a pair under her bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. **

"Ew," Hermione said as she scrunched her face up.

**Raven was used to spiders, because the **

Raven paused as she read the next few words. She glared at the offensive words on the page before saying through clenched teeth.

**cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where she slept.**

It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

Charlie's hand tightened around Raven's as he pulled her from her seat. Without saying a word to the other occupants he pulled her into a room that had been provided.

"Ray… talk to me," Charlie whispered as he moved to embrace the girl before him.

"And just what should I say? I never wanted it to get out Charlie!" Raven hissed as she pushed him away from her.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just said I didn't want it to get out! God, it isn't hard to understand is it? I hated my life, they were never my family, what they did will not rule my life. I have dealt with what has happened and it does not need to be dug up from the coffin I buried it in," Raven finished softly, finally letting Charlie embrace her as she allowed her body to slump from the release of emotion.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. "I just hate to hear about you being treated like that."

"I know," Raven whispered back as she closed her eyes.

"These books won't be easy," Charlie concluded with a sigh.

"We'll get through them," Raven smiled.

The two of them stood, in each other's arms, for the next fleeting seconds before Charlie sighed once more.

"Come on, let's get these finished," he gently pulled the female out of the room with him.

"Raven –" Hermione began, only to be cut off.

"Let's not talk about it, it is in the past and things have changed," Raven sat down and opened the book once more.

**When she was dressed she went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday pres ents. **

"How many did he have?" Draco asked lightly, sensing Raven's mood, trying to keep the banter that went on between everyone as light as possible.

**It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

"Spoilt brat," Charlie muttered.

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Raven, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise — unless of course it in volved punching somebody. Dudley's favourite punching bag was Raven, **

"Of course," Bill sighed.

"You really need to leave that house," Draco frowned.

Raven ignored both comments and the sounds of agreement that sounded across the room and continued to read.

**but he couldn't often catch her. Raven didn't look it, but she was very fast.**

"At least there is that," Charlie smiled.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Raven had always been small and skinny for her age.**

"You really are you know," Bill frowned.

"Not so much small anymore, she's grown to about average but she is still unbelievably skinny," Fred nodded.

**She looked even smaller and skinnier than she really was because all she had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than she was. **

"They made you wear his clothes?" George gasped.

"Do they still?" Bill frowned.

"Nah, I managed to convince my Aunt to get me some girl clothes so that Hogwarts didn't get suspicious," everyone frowned as Raven spoke calmly about the injustice she had lived with.

"If they are new why do they still look quite… tatty?" Hermione asked timidly.

"Who said they were new?" Raven said bitterly. "They are just female clothes."

**Raven had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. She wore round glasses held to gether with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched her on the nose. **

"How can any male do that and live with themselves?" Draco frowned.

"He's barely a male," Raven shrugged.

**The only thing Raven liked about her own appearance was a very thin scar on her forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. **

Hermione shook her head with a small smile, even though Raven hated her fame she still thought her scar was cool.

**She had had it as long as she could re member, and the first question she could ever remember asking her Aunt Petunia was how she had gotten it.**

"Somehow I doubt they will tell you the truth Ray," Draco frowned.

**"In the car crash when your parents died," **

"She didn't!" Hermione gasped.

**she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

**Don't ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursley's.**

"You need to ask questions to learn though," Charlie frowned.

"It makes sense," Hermione muttered. "No wonder you never question anything."

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Raven was turning over the bacon.**

**"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Raven needed a haircut. Raven must have had more haircuts than the rest of the girls in her class put together, but it made no difference, her hair simply grew that way — all over the place. The Dursley's never let her hair grow long enough for it to straighten naturally, instead they insisted that her hair was to stay shoulder-length, where it looked messy beyond belief.**

"Your hair isn't that short now, we only ever saw it short twice," George observed.

"They leave me alone now through the summer now," Raven said in a cheery tone.

**Raven was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Raven often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

"I think your description of him sounds more correct Ray," Charlie whispered to the girl next to him.

**Raven put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

"Has he forgotten how to count?" Fred asked in mock horror.

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"You are fucking kidding me," Draco groaned as he fell back against the back of the couch.

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**

"What self-respecting parent would encourage him?" Bill frowned.

**"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Raven, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down her bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"Is he really that bad?" Hermione frowned.

"You've heard all the stories Mya," Raven replied.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"**

"I swear they are going to end up getting him killed," Bill frowned. "The world won't give you anything and demanding it like he does will lead to someone murdering you."

The table in front of them flashed as a note appeared on it.

_Luckily he changed, if he did not than a lovely woman would be missing a husband. SD_

"Who is SD?" George frowned as he looked up from the note.

"I don't know but they seem to think Dudley changes," Fred shrugged.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty … thirty …"**

"This is painful to listen to," Draco groaned.

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

**"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"How can you stand it there?" Bill asked.

Raven said nothing, feeling awkward that her home life was being exposed to her friends.

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Raven and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. **

"I bet that was so hard to watch," Bill muttered.

"You have no idea," Raven muttered before continuing.

**He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

"Ouch, get off me Sirius! We don't know where we are you fool!" a voice shouted from behind a door.

"Moony we could be anywhere we need to stick together!" Sirius hissed back loudly.

With a sign Raven pulled herself away from Charlie and walked towards the door that the others were staring at in shock.

"You two are bad at being quiet," she said dryly as she opened the door.

"Raven!" Sirius gasped as he moved forward, only for Remus to hold him back.

"It could be an imposter," he muttered.

Sirius pulled himself from his friend and looked at his Goddaughter. "How did I escape?"

"On an animal, a hippogriff to be exact," she added seeing Remus open his mouth.

Sirius pulled Raven into a hug.

"Where are we?"

"In a room," Bill said, walking over to the two men. "We aren't sure how or why but we are here with a book."

"A book?" Remus frowned.

"About Raven," Hermione piped up as the group left the doorway.

"What's happened so far?"

"We found out that Dumbledore left her with the Dursley's, who were Lily's family. It's ten years later and her cousins birthday," Draco shrugged.

"We also learnt that her bedroom was a cupboard," Fred said, his voice full of vemon.

"What?" both Sirius and Remus yelped as the stared at their friends daughter in shock.

"It's nothing," Raven muttered as she attempted to find her place in the book again.

"It is most certainly not nothing," Sirius pointed out.

"It is a huge something," Remus said softly.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"It's in the past, I have a room now. It doesn't matter," Raven's tone stopped the conversation before it escalated.

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take her." She jerked her head in Raven's direction.**

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Raven's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Raven was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Raven hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made her look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"Didn't she realise what was going on?" Sirius hissed.

"They were good at hiding it," Raven shrugged.

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Raven as though she'd planned this. Raven knew she ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when she reminded herself it would be a whole year before she had to look at Tibbies, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"I do understand that much." Sirius said lightly, trying to push his annoyance away.

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

**"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the girl."**

**The Dursley's often spoke about Raven like this, as though she wasn't there — or rather, as though she was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

Everyone frowned as Charlie held raven slightly closer to himself.

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?"**

**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

**"You could just leave me here," Raven put in hopefully **

"That'd make you happy," Draco frowned.

**(she'd be able to watch what she wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"It isn't like she will blow it up!" Charlie said harshly.

**"I won't blow up the house," said Raven, but they weren't listen ing.**

_They never do,_ she thought bitterly.

**"I suppose we could take her to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave her in the car. …"**

**"That cars new, he's not sitting in it alone. …"**

"How do you handle them?" Fred muttered.

"I tend to ignore it," Raven said simply.

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since he'd really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him any thing he wanted.**

"That is truly sickening," Remus said as he shook his head.

**"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let her spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"She really is doing more harm than good," Charlie sighed.

**"I … don't … want … her … t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "She always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Raven a nasty grin through the gap in his mothers arms.**

**Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"Of course he did,

**Half an hour later, Raven, who couldn't believe her luck, was sit ting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in her life. Her aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with her, but be fore they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Raven aside.**

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Raven's, "I'm warning you now, girl — any funny business, anything at all — and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"He better hope he didn't actually do that," both Sirius and Remus growled.

Charlie squeezed Raven's hand again, making sure that it was hidden between the two of them.

**I'm not going to do anything," said Raven, "honestly …"**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe her. No one ever did.**

"They still don't," Draco sniggered.

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Raven and it was just no good telling the Dursleys she didn't make them happen.**

Hermione groaned.

"What did you do?" George frowned.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Raven coming back from the hairdressers looking as though she hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut her hair so short she was almost bald except for her bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." **

"That is horrible," Bill muttered.

**Dudley had laughed himself silly at Raven, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where she was already laughed at for her baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, she had gotten up to find her hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petu nia had sheared it off. **

"How long was it before?" Sirius asked.

"An inch above shoulder length I think," Raven shrugged.

"I prefer it long," Charlie said playing with Raven's hair.

**She had been given a week in her cupboard for this, **

"What did the week include?" Remus growled.

"I was let out for school," Raven shrugged, guessing that was what the werewolf meant.

**even though she had tried to explain that she couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force her into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). The harder she tried to pull it over her head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Raven. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to her great relief, Raven wasn't pun ished.**

"That is really good," Hermione sighed.

**On the other hand, she'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing her as usual when, as much to Raven's surprise as anyone else's, there she was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had re ceived a very angry letter from Raven's headmistress telling them Raven had been climbing school buildings. But all she'd tried to do (as she shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cup board) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Raven supposed that the wind must have caught her in mid-jump.**

"That was a terrible excuse," George and Fred sighed.

"I was ten," Raven sighed as she leant against Charlie. Her body felt exhausted.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth be ing with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, her cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

"I think you jinxed it," Hermione frowned, watching her friend lean against the second eldest Weasley.

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Raven, the council, Raven, the bank, and Raven were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"You know, I don't think they mentioned you at all Raven," Draco sighed.

**"… roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

**"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Raven, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

A collection of groans sounded in the room.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Raven, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"Overreact much?" Hermione muttered.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

**"I know they don't," said Raven. "It was only a dream."**

**But she wished she hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than her asking questions, it was her talk ing about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think she might get dangerous ideas.**

"You do seem to get them quite easily," Draco sniggered, causing everyone but Draco, Hermione and Raven to look in worry.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with fam ilies. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Raven what she wanted before they could hurry her away, they bought her a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Raven thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

**Raven had the best morning she'd had in a long time. **

"It is quite sad that you think that is the best morning you've had," Sirius frowned.

**She was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting her. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Raven was allowed to finish the first.**

"They honestly make me feel sick," Bill frowned.

**Raven felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. **

"Sounds creepy," Remus observed.

"It was alright," Raven smiled.

**Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

"Awww," Draco pouted.

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"Disgusting,"

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"Good on you snake," Bill muttered.

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Raven moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. She wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than hav ing a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petu nia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least she got to visit the rest of the house.**

"You are comparing yourself to the snake," Hermione frowned.

"That is kinda weird," Charlie whispered into her eyes, making Raven blush slightly.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Raven's.**

Draco smiled as he sat up straighter.

**It winked.**

"Winked? They don't have eyelids," Remus frowned.

"The movement was just translated that way," Charlie stated.

"How do you know?" Bill asked him.

"There is a person that is a Parselmouth on the reserve," Charlie shrugged. "It's useful with the dragons."

"Does that mean Raven's a Parselmouth?"

"No guaranty from that," Charlie shrugged to his older brother.

**Raven stared. Then she looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. She looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

"That isn't what you should be doing," Sirius moaned.

"Just why not?" Draco asked sharply. "Does it matter if she can talk to snakes or dragons? How would that be a bad thing?"

"It isn't that it is a bad thing, just…"

"It's ok," Raven muttered.

"It isn't!" Draco snapped. "He is acting like you should hide what you are."

"Draco it is fine!" Raven hissed.

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Raven a look that said quite plainly:**

**"I get that all the time."**

Sirius' jaw twitched as he made a move to say something, only to stop himself as Raven continued to read in a cold tone.

**"I know," Raven murmured through the glass, though she wasn't sure the snake could hear her. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

**"Where do you come from, anyway?" Raven asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Raven peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

**"Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Raven read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"It is strange, I remember you telling us but it is still so unbelievable," Hermione muttered.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Raven made both of them jump. **

"The snake jumped?" Charlie asked with a slight snigger.

"It was a unique sight," Raven nodded.

**"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Raven in the ribs. **

"That bast-" Draco growled before Hermione nudged him.

"He isn't worth it," she muttered.

**Caught by surprise, Raven fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

"Please let it be good," Fred whispered with his fingers crossed.

**Raven sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

"Understandable," Bill nodded.

**As the snake slid swiftly past her, Raven could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come.… Thanksss, amigo."**

"Oh god," Sirius whispered softly.

"Don't worry about it," Charlie whispered to Raven as she tensed from her godfather's words.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"It disappeared, like magic," Draco said in a wonder filled voice, causing Hermione to laugh.

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dud ley could only gibber. As far as Raven had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, **

"It should have done more," Bill hissed.

**but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Raven at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Raven was talking to it, weren't you, Raven?"**

"Now you're done for," Remus groaned.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house be fore starting on Raven. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

**Raven lay in her dark cupboard much later, wishing she had a watch. She didn't know what time it was and she couldn't be sure the Durs leys were asleep yet. Until they were, she couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"I did wonder why you were so good at sneaking about," Hermione groaned.

**She'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as she could remember, ever since she'd been a baby and her parents had died in that car crash. **

"Excuse me… I don't think I heard that correctly," Remus said, a dangerous tone edging into his voice.

"They told her that her parents died in a car crash," Bill said softly.

"Car crash?" Sirius scoffed. "Both James and Lily passed their tests after they graduated. There was no way that they could have crashed."

**She couldn't remember being in the car when her parents had died. Sometimes, when she strained her memory during long hours in her cupboard, she came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burn ing pain on her forehead. **

"It is so scary that you remember that," Bill sighed.

**This, she supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. She couldn't remember her parents at all. Her aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course she was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

**When she had been younger, Raven had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take her away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were her only family. **

Both Remus and Sirius sifted uncomfortably.

**Yet sometimes she thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know her. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to her once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Raven furiously if she knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at her once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken her hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Raven tried to get a closer look.**

"How rude," Remus frowned.

"How irresponsible," Hermione corrected him.

"How did they find her?" Bill asked. "Albus said there were wards to stop her being found."

**At school, Raven had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Raven Potter in her baggy old clothes and bro ken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"You poor thing," Bill frowned.

"Who's reading next?" Raven asked, ignoring Bill's previous comment.

"I will," Sirius said, taking the book from her.

Raven passed the book over, not making eye contact with her godfather, still hurt over his comment.

**Chapter 3 -The Letters From No One**


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN: Wow! It has been a while, which I am sorry about! My work load just increased beyond belief. Hopefully you won't have as long to wait for the next chapter.**_

_**I must say, thank you for the amount of reviews I got, I will reply to them all, I just didn't have time beforehand. I love the questions you guys ask, even though a few I cannot answer just yet. I just wanted to say thank you.**_

_**Without further ado, Chapter Three.**_

* * *

**Chapter 3 - The Letters From No One**

"Guessing that is Hogwarts," Hermione nodded, "I thought the same when I first got mine."

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Raven her longest-ever punishment. By the time she was allowed out of her cupboard again, the summer holidays had started **

"When is Dudley's birthday again?" Hermione asked, a dangerous glint flashing in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter," Raven muttered, wishing the books passed by the Dursley's.

"No it does matter," Remus sighed. "I think we all would like to know how long you were locked up for," Remus sounded much older than his years as he spoke.

"The twenty-third of June," Raven muttered after a few minutes of silence where Hermione and Remus stared at her.

"That is at least three weeks," Hermione gasped, remembering how late into July schools finished for the year.

"I wasn't locked away all the time," Raven shrugged, realising most people in the room was fuming at her treatment.

"Perhaps we should keep reading," Charlie said, sending a look to Hermione who had opened her mouth.

**and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote con trol airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

**Raven was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dud ley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

"Is anyone else astounded by the stupidity of this group?" Bill groaned.

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Raven Hunting.**

Charlie found Raven's hand again, his body language tense. _'I don't understand how anyone can want to hurt someone so pure…' _Charlie cast his mind back to when his friends arrived back at Romania with the dragon. They had such kind words to share, so how did the Dursley's not see what everybody else saw?

**This was why Raven spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holi days, where she could see a tiny ray of hope. **

"Why?" Hermione frowned.

**When September came she would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in her life, she wouldn't be with Dudley. **

Sirius read, answering Hermione's question.

"Where did they enrol you?" Hermione asked Raven.

"I haven't a clue really, just that it was a public school," Raven answered.

**Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was go ing there too. Raven, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"Why is it funny?" Draco asked.

**"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Raven. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

"He better not have touched you," Remus frowned,

**"No, thanks," said Raven. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick." Then she ran, before Dudley could work out what she'd said.**

Everyone chuckled as Raven avoided their eyes.

"Your father was rather witty you know, Lily was more sarcastic," Remus smiled as Raven's head shot up to look at him, taking him his words.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Raven at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Raven watch television and gave her a bit of choco late cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

"Err… that's good?" Bill frowned.

"Better than normal," Raven shrugged causing the others to frown.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good train ing for later life.**

"That's horrifying!" Hermione gasped.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Ver non said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Raven didn't trust herself to speak. She thought two of her ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

"You should be able to laugh," Remus frowned. Sirius made a move to nod along with his friend, however he stopped himself at the last minute, stiffly reading once more.

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Raven went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. She went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water.**

"What is it?" Draco asked.

**"What's this?" she asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if she dared to ask a question.**

**"Your new school uniform," she said.**

"What?" Charlie frowned.

**Raven looked in the bowl again.**

**"Oh," she said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

"I do hope that was sarcasm, otherwise you could be seen as really dumb," Hermione sighed.

**"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

"I doubt that," George muttered.

**Raven seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. She sat down at the table and tried not to think about how she was going to look on her first day at Stonewall High — like she was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Raven's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

**They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.**

**"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his pa per.**

"What?" Draco asked.

"I did say it wasn't so bad," Raven muttered, which everyone ignored.

**"Make Raven get it."**

**"Get the mail, Raven."**

**"Make Dudley get it."**

"Unfortunately I doubt that will work," Bill sighed.

**"Poke her with your Smelting stick, Dudley."**

"See," Bill said.

**Raven dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown enve lope that looked like a bill, and — a letter for Raven.**

"That sounds like you're so shocked," Remus frowned.

**Raven picked it up and stared at it, her heart twanging like a gi ant elastic band. No one, ever, in her whole life, had written to her. **

Everyone in the room shifted awkwardly as Raven avoided all the pitying glances that were shot her way.

**Who would? She had no friends, no other relatives — she didn't be long to the library, so she'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

"You shouldn't have to doubt it is for you," Fred frowned.

**Miss. R. Potter**

**The Cupboard under the Stairs**

**4 Privet Drive**

**Little Whinging**

**Surrey**

"No one noticed this?" Draco gasped.

"It's a self-writing quill," Hermione said softly.

"They should still check it," George growled as his brothers nodded with him.

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.**

"Why is it green?" Draco asked. "Mine was written in black."

"They are meant to be black so it doesn't show favouritism," Hermione frowned.

"That is strange," Charlie frowned.

Raven looked over to Hermione to see her making a note of something.

**Turning the envelope over, her hand trembling, Raven saw a pur ple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.**

**"Hurry up, girl!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

**Raven went back to the kitchen, still staring at her letter. She handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

"You would be better opening it away from them," Draco muttered.

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.**

**"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk …"**

**"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Raven's got something!"**

Draco swore loudly.

"Didn't you expect it?" Fred asked rather harshly.

"Of course," Draco said stiffly.

"Doesn't mean we have to like it," George added.

**Raven was on the point of unfolding her letter, which was writ ten on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of her hand by Uncle Vernon.**

"I think your language was more suitable here," Bill hissed.

**"That's mine!" said Raven, trying to snatch it back.**

"You shouldn't snatch," Remus said.

"He did first," Sirius muttered to his friend.

"Doesn't make it right."

**"Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the greyish white of old porridge.**

**"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

"All that because of a letter?" Charlie whispered to Raven.

"You forget that letter exposes all the lies they told me, it was proof they were not normal," Raven said back to him in a quiet tone.

**"Vernon! Oh my goodness — Vernon!"**

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Raven and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ig nored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

**"I want to read that letter," he said loudly.**

"It isn't yours!" Fred said harshly.

"I don't know how you dealt with it," George said to Raven.

**"I want to read it," said Raven furiously, "as it's mine."**

**"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the let ter back inside its envelope.**

**Raven didn't move.**

**"I WANT MY LETTER!" she shouted.**

"Temper temper," Hermione snickered.

"Bite me," Raven laughed back.

**"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.**

**"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Raven and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, **

"Hey!" almost everyone but Raven shouted.

**slamming the kitchen door behind them. Raven and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Raven, her glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on her stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.**

**"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address — how could they possibly know where she sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"They should have been," Charlie hissed softly.

Raven gave his hand a squeeze,

**"Watching — spying — might be following us," muttered Un cle Vernon wildly.**

**"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want —"**

**Raven could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

**"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an an swer. … Yes, that's best … we won't do anything. …"**

"That won't work," Remus said.

"Good, I want them to suffer though," Bill said.

**"But —"**

**"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took her in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

Raven tensed slightly as all eyes turned to her.

"Just what did they do to you?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," Raven said.

"That's not true," Hermione frowned.

"Your uncle just admitted that they wanted to 'stamp out' the magic in you," Fred said.

"What did they do?" George asked.

"Nothing ok! I was locked in a cupboard and every so often my meals were withheld from me," Raven sighed.

"Say the words please," Draco said softly, watching his friend.

"I don't need to."

"You always do this," Draco shook his head. "Even I've noticed it and we've only been friends for a while now."

"Just what do I do then?"

"You say everything's fine when it isn't, but you can never outright lie about it. So say that they didn't physically hurt you," Draco said, looking straight into Raven's eyes.

"It is in the past and it was never often enough to count as abuse," Raven said finally. "Read Sirius."

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Raven in her cup board.**

**"Where's my letter?" said Raven, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?"**

**"No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Ver non shortly. "I have burned it."**

"Real big mistake there," Bill said dryly.

**"It was not a mistake," said Raven angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

**"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

"I hope it was," Fred muttered.

**"Er — yes, Raven — about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking … you're really getting a bit big for it… we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bed room."**

"Second?" Remus gasped.

"It gets worse," Sirius said grimly.

**"Why?" said Raven.**

"Why did you question it?" Bill frowned.

"He wasn't normally nice without a reason," Raven shrugged.

**"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff up stairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: **

"Four?" Fred growled.

"Let it go," Raven whispered.

**one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom.**

"I hate them," Charlie said softly.

**It only took Raven one trip upstairs to move everything she owned from the cupboard to this room. She sat down on the bed and stared around her. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbour's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favourite program had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

Draco snickered at Hermione's look of horror.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't want her in there… I need that room… make her get out.…"**

"Baby," George bit out.

**Raven sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday she'd have given anything to be up here. Today she'd rather be back in her cup board with that letter than up here without it.**

"It's sad you think it is 'your' cupboard," Hermione sighed.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tor toise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Raven was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing she'd opened the letter in the hall.**

"I hate to break it to you but we wish that as well," Fred sighed.

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Raven, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Miss. R. Potter, The Small est Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive —' "**

"That didn't work did it!" George cried with humour.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Raven right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wres tle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Raven had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Raven's letter clutched in his hand.**

"Damn," most of the males muttered around the room.

**"Go to your cupboard — I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Raven. "Dudley — go — just go."**

**Raven walked round and round her new room. Someone knew she had moved out of her cupboard and they seemed to know she hadn't received her first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time she'd make sure they didn't fail. She had a plan.**

"I wonder if your plans were as crazy as they are now," Hermione smiled at her friend.

"No, it was the magic that made them crazy," Raven stuck her tongue out as Draco spoke.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. **

"Did you repair it?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, it wasn't that hard," Raven smiled.

**Raven turned it off quickly and dressed silently she mustn't wake the Dursleys. She stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

**She was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. **

"Pretty good plan," Hermione nodded.

"Thank you, I'm glad my eleven year old self gets your praise," Raven rolled her eyes.

**Her heart hammered as she crept across the dark hall toward the front door —**

**"AAAAARRRGH!"**

"What the hell?" Draco gasped as Sirius had shouted.

**Raven leapt into the air; she'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat — something alive!**

Fred and George began to chuckle quietly.

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Raven realized that the big, squashy something had been her uncle's face. **

The chuckling twins began to laugh openly now, as most of the other occupants of the room chuckled.

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Raven didn't do exactly what she'd been try ing to do. **

"It's bad if he could think of it," Bill said.

**He shouted at Raven for about half an hour and then told her to go and make a cup of tea. Raven shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time she got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Raven could see three letters ad dressed in green ink.**

**"I want —" she began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before her eyes.**

"He deserves a slow painful death," Charlie growled.

"He doesn't actually," Raven said.

"For what he did to you he does," Remus said.

"It wasn't -"

"Just stop arguing," George said, looking grim.

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

**"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't deliver them they'll just give up."**

**"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

**"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"How does that even work?" Draco asked.

"Fruit cake is meant to be soft," Hermione nodded.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Raven. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

"Great," Bill sniggered.

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"He's lost it," Remus said with a slight smile.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. **

"Began?" raven echoed.

**Twenty-four letters to Raven found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden in side each of the two dozen eggs **

"Wow," Fred gasped through his laughter.

**that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

**"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Raven in amazement.**

"Quite a few people," Draco said.

"Most people wrote to you," Fred said, turning to Raven.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

"Why?" Bill frowned.

**"No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully **

"That isn't true," George frowned.

"It is for muggle post," Sirius replied before continuing to read.

**as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today —"**

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head.**

"What was that?" Hermione frowned.

**Next mo ment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Raven leapt into the air trying to catch one —**

**"Out! OUT!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized Raven around the waist and threw her into the hall. **

Most of the males frowned at the mention but let it slide. All but Charlie could see how tense Raven grew during mention of her home life and how they treated her. Charlie, whilst not being able to see it, could see her tense next to him.

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

**"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time. **

"How does that work?" George asked in confusion.

**"I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

**He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

"Good, the kid is finally being disciplined," Remus said.

"Hitting him is a bit far though," Hermione frowned.

"It was more of a playful hit than an actual one. It didn't do any damage," Raven said automatically.

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.**

**"Shake 'em off … shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

"He has gone crazy," Draco said.

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

Eyes flashed over to Raven, each person thinking the same thing, _'that's how it is for Raven and she doesn't complain…'_

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Raven shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Raven stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering…**

_About the letters, how they knew… why they did nothing, _Raven sighed internally.

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. **

"Ew," Hermione frowned.

**They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

**" 'Scuse me, but is one of you Miss. R. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

_**Mr. R. Potter**_

_**Room 17**_

_**Railview Hotel**_

_**Cokeworth**_

**Raven made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"Don't just stare!" Fred groaned.

"She had no choice, she couldn't do anything about it," Hermione said.

"Why not?" George asked.

"She didn't know for sure who Raven was, only that she was a young girl. Not many children get that much mail," Hermione replied.

**"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and fol lowing her from the dining room.**

**"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a ploughed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

"He's going to get them killed," Remus said.

**"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"He has," Bill nodded.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.**

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dud ley snivelled.**

**"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television."**

"Poor you," Draco sneered.

**Monday. This reminded Raven of something. If it was Mon day — and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television — then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Raven's eleventh birthday. **

"Brilliant!" George smiled, Charlie's smile grew fixed as he felt Raven squeeze his hand. She had confessed to him what the Dursleys had treated her like.

**Of course, her birthdays were never ex actly fun — last year, the Dursleys had given her a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

"You should at least have a good birthday," Bill frowned.

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carry ing a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

"That doesn't leave me with a good feeling," Fred confessed.

**"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

**"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clap ping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-grey water below them.**

"They're all going to die," Bill paled.

**"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slip ping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

"I don't like this," Hermione whispered.

"You've been through worse," Raven reminded her.

"Yes but he could easily leave you for death there!" she snapped back.

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas.**

"That is not enough!" Fred gasped.

"Not even for one person," George nodded.

**He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shrivelled up.**

**"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheer fully.**

"I hope he dies," Charlie said softly.

Raven, hearing him, hit his thigh and moved away from him slightly. She may hate her uncle but she would never wish him dead.

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Raven privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer her up at all.**

"I doubt it would," Remus said.

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Raven was left to find the softest bit of floor she could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"I hate them," Fred whispered to his twin, who nodded in agreement.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Raven couldn't sleep. She shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, her stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near mid night. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Raven she'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. She lay and watched her birthday tick nearer, won dering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

"Do we have to read this?" Bill sighed.

"There isn't much left to the chapter," Sirius said.

**Five minutes to go. Raven heard something creak outside. She hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did. **

"You shouldn't think like that," Draco frowned, half angry with his friend.

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that she'd be able to steal one somehow.**

"I doubt you could," Fred frowned.

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

"Oh my," Hermione whispered, her face paling more.

**One minute to go and she'd be eleven. Thirty seconds … twenty … ten … nine — maybe she'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him — three … two … one …**

**BOOM.**

"Boom?" George asked.

"Boom," Raven smiled slightly.

**The whole shack shivered and Raven sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"Hopefully it's no one bad," Hermione said.

"Who's reading next?" Sirius asked.

"I will," Remus said, taking the book from his friend.

**Chapter Four - The Keeper of Keys**


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN: I just want to say thank you to 'Heart of Books' for the review, I wasn't able to reply as you were a guest but thank you non the less!**_

* * *

**Chapter 4 - The Keeper Of The Keys**

Remus almost smiled in relief

**BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.**

**"Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

"That isn't too fair, he was half-asleep after all," Raven frowned.

"You never thought he was stupid?" Hermione asked her friend.

"Of course I did but to say it when he was half awake is just wrong," Raven responded.

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands — now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

"A rifle?" Hermione said as she paled more.

"He didn't use it," Raven said to her friend.

**"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you — I'm armed!"**

**There was a pause. Then —**

**SMASH!**

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

"Oh my," Hermione gasped.

"I bet that shocked them," George smirked.

"You shouldn't smirk, you look evil," Fred said to his twin.

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

**"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey. …"**

"Typical Hagrid," Sirius laughed.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

**"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

"Wow, they are so brave," Fred said sarcastically.

**"An' here's Raven!" said the giant.**

"I bet that shocked you," Charlie said, nudging the girl next to him.

**Raven looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

**"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."**

"I was so insulted that he said that. I didn't think I looked like a boy," Raven smiled sadly.

"It is true, however, a female version of your father," Remus said with a smile.

"You have his hair and his features but you are obviously female," Sirius continued looking at his goddaughter, his chest tightening slightly as the guilt hit him. He swallowed before turning back to Remus.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

**"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

"Hagrid won't care," Fred said.

**"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

"Good, its out of the way now," Hermione said.

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

**"Anyway — Raven," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here — I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Raven opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Raven written on it in green icing.**

"Why green?" George frowned.

"Her eyes," Charlie smiled as he looked at Raven.

**Raven looked up at the giant. She meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to her mouth, and what she said instead was, "Who are you?"**

Most of the males chuckled whilst Hermione gave Raven a fond look.

**The giant chuckled.**

**"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Raven's whole arm.**

**"What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

"Hagrid," Bill groaned.

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Raven felt the warmth wash over her as though she'd sunk into a hot bath.**

"I do love that feeling," Raven sighed in content.

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid **

"I have always wondered why he carried so much with him," Hermione said.

**that he took a swig from before starting to make tea. Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage.**

"That sounds nice right now," Bill said with a sigh.

"We'll see if there is food about after this chapter if you'd like," Remus said as most of the room nodded.

**Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

"As if Hagrid would," Sirius snapped.

"Hagrid is kind Sirius, he wouldn't leave out Raven's cousin without a purpose." Remus argued as all the younger people nodded.

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

"That's out of character," Hermione frowned.

**"Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

"Way out of character," Fred frowned.

Hermione's frown deepened as she wrote something on the piece of paper she had gathered previously.

**He passed the sausages to Raven, who was so hungry she had never tasted anything so wonderful, but she still couldn't take her eyes off the giant.**

"Hagrid isn't a great cooker though," George said sadly.

**Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, she said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

"Where did you learn manners?" Draco asked suddenly turning to Raven. "I mean, it's unlikely they taught you them."

"I was taught manners by Aunt Petunia, I was to be polite and grateful for everything they did," Raven shrugged.

"They actually taught you manners?" George asked in disbelief.

"They tried," Raven said tonelessly. "They didn't really succeed too well."

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

**"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts — yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."**

**"Er — no," said Raven.**

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

**"Sorry," Raven said quickly.**

"You shouldn't be the one apologising," Draco sighed.

**"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"**

"I cannot see this going in a good way," Bill smirked.

**"All what?" asked Raven.**

**"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"**

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

**"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this girl — this girl! — knows nothin' abou' — about ANYTHING?"**

**Raven thought this was going a bit far. She had been to school, after all, and her marks weren't bad.**

"That isn't what he meant," Bill chuckled.

"I know that now," Raven sighed.

**"I know some things," she said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."**

"Math and stuff?" Hermione echoed with a laugh.

"Shut it," Raven muttered softly with a small smile.

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."**

"That doesn't sound crazy at all," Sirius muttered to Remus.

**"What world?"**

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

**"DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." **

"I worry for you uncle," Charlie whispered to Raven, who was sat next to him.

**Hagrid stared wildly at Raven.**

**"But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."**

**"What? My — my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"You find out you are famous and you ask about your parents," Draco said as he shook his head in disbelief. "It is something you would do but it is still crazy."

**"Yeh don' know … yeh don' know …" Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Raven with a bewildered stare.**

**"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.**

Fred gasped as George said, "How could you not know that you are a bubblebee!"

Raven sighed in defeat, "I don't know. No one ever told me."

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

**"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the girl anything!"**

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

"Ouch, an angry Hagrid is terrifying," Bill said.

"You've seen it?" George asked his older brother.

"Yeah, a kid in my year did a large amount of damage in the forest and Hagrid was the one that found us," Bill said.

"What were you doing there?" Hermione asked.

"I saw a kid sneak into the forest, of course I went to look," Bill shrugged. "I didn't expect him to attempt to catch any of the animals."

"What animal was it?" Remus asked.

"One of the baby unicorns," Bill said with a frown.

**"You never told her? Never told her what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer her? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from her all these years?"**

**"Kept what from me?" said Raven eagerly.**

"Hagrid told you?" Remus asked with a sad look. 'That poor man,' he thought, 'imagine having to tell a child that..'

**"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

**"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Raven — yer a witch."**

"Oooo, how did you react?" Hermione gasped. "I never asked before. I was horribly offended by McGonagall telling me."

"Just read on Remus," Raven smiled.

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

**"I'm a what?" gasped Raven.**

"That's it?" Hermione said in a dejected voice.

"Sorry," Raven laughed. "I was in shock."

**"A witch, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be?"**

**Raven couldn't help but cut Hagrid off. "Do you mean like a magical witch?" she asked softly.**

"**O' course!" Hagrid boomed with a laugh. "An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

**Raven stretched out her hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Miss. R. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. She pulled out the letter and read:**

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**

**Dear Miss. Potter,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall,**

**Deputy Headmistress**

The twins cheered as Remus read the contents of the letter out.

"Why are you cheering?" Bill asked.

"She got into Hogwarts," George responded as if it was obvious.

"You know she got in anyway," Draco pointed out, which the two ignored.

**Questions exploded inside Raven's head like fireworks ands he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes she stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"That is your first question?" Draco sniggered.

"It was the last thing I read, plus it was the 31st of July that day," Raven muttered with a glare.

**"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl — a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl — a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Raven could read upside down:**

"That's quite impressive," Bill muttered.

"Not really, it isn't that hard to read," Raven shrugged.

_**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**_

_**Given Raven her letter.**_

_**Taking her to buy her things tomorrow.**_

_**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**_

_**Hagrid**_

"Only Hagrid," Sirius chuckled.

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.**

"It is for us," Charlie snickered

**Raven realized her mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

**"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

**"She's not going," he said.**

"As if you could stop her," Draco scoffed.

"Oh, he has tried," Fred said grimly.

**Hagrid grunted.**

**"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop her," he said.**

**"A what?" said Raven, interested.**

Draco smirked slightly, "you are still as clueless as you were back then you know," he teased.

"At least I'm not stuck up," Raven responded as she stuck her tongue out.

**"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

**"We swore when we took her in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of her!**

"They actually tried to stamp your magic out?" Draco asked in an icy cold voice.

"They could have seriously hurt her!" Sirius shouted.

"What's... What does it mean by stamping magic out?" Raven asked hesitantly.

"Stamping magic out of a magical person is not often tried, every magical being knows that. The damage it can cause on the person is torture. If they had succeeded you would have killed them as your magic lashed out Raven," Hermione said gently.

"It would have also impacted on you," Remus continued. "Depending on the strength of your magical core it could have done anything from leaving you insane to paralysing you and it can even give the same effect as the Dementor's kiss. Some are lucky enough to just lose their magic."

"How is that lucky?" Hermione frowned.

"Compared to the choices it is the best that could happen from it," Draco said. "I do disagree with you on one point," he said turning to Hermione. "Not all people that go through it kill their attackers, some just blast them a certain distance away."

"Raven has a high level of magic, it normally just shows when she's in danger but it is there. I have no doubt that it would kill them," Hermione argued.

"I was just saying that not everyone's magic lashes out and kills -" Draco tried to explain as Hermione cut him off.

"You haven't seen Raven's magic at its highest."

"And you have -"

"There is a bigger chance that I have than you have you stuck up -"

"I swear to god if you punch me again I will not be happy!" Draco shouted over Hermione.

"Do they do this a lot?" Charlie whispered into Raven's ear.

"Yeah," Raven said softly, barely making a sound.

The rest of the room watched the two arguing with horrified amusement, Remus, Fred and George all considered the episodes they had seen at Hogwarts where the Ron and Draco would exchange hurtful words through arguments but never once had they seen Hermione lose her control in such a manner.

"For Christ sake you are such a prat!" Hermione shouted to the male next to her.

"That's a lot coming from you!" Draco shot back at her.

"Will you both just shut up!" Raven snapped after a few minutes. "You are both acting like two year olds! I do get that you want to be the smartest but really do you have to have the ego matches in public?"

Hermione and Draco both recoiled slightly and shot Raven sheepish looks before muttering 'sorry'.

"That you, Remus if you will?" Raven smiled to her honouree uncle.

**Witch indeed!"**

**"You knew?" said Raven. "You knew I'm a — a witch?"**

**"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? **

Remus' voice hesitated slightly as he continued to read, no one dared to interrupt, all the occupants listened, dread and hatred growing in their stomach. Charlie had wrapped his arms around Raven slightly more, offering her as much comfort as he could.

**Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that — that school — and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was — a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

**"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as — as — abnormal — and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

"Oh my..." Bill was the one to break the silence that surrounded the room, threatening to overtake each and every person.

Remus' mouth felt dry from reading the hateful words that were aimed at his deceased friend.

**Raven had gone very white. **

"That's how you found out," Sirius whispered.

**As soon as she found her voice she said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

**"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Raven Potter not knowin' her own story when every kid in our world knows her name!"**

**"But why? What happened?" Raven asked urgently.**

"I don't envy him one bit," Fred muttered to his brother, who, like the rest of the room, was a sickly pale thinking of telling a child about that fate.

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

**"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. **

"Dumbledore knew?" Hermione gasped.

"Why would he leave you there?" Remus asked quietly before shaking his head and continuing.

**Ah, Raven, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh — but someone's gotta — yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

Everyone in the room paled.

"That would have been horrible," Raven muttered.

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

**"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh — mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it. …"**

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with — with a person called — but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows —"**

**"Who?"**

"Hagrid won't say his name Ray," Charlie said softly. "He's terrified."

**"Well — I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"Why is that?" Hermione asked.

"There were rumours that saying Voldemort meant that he would appear and slaughter the speaker, but it was never proven and those of us in the order were never murdered for saying the name," Sirius replied.

**"Why not?"**

**"Gulpin' gargoyles, Raven, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went … bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. **

"That's an understatement," Bill muttered.

**His name was …"**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

**"Could you write it down?" Raven suggested.**

**"Nah — can't spell it. All right — Voldemort." **

"You got him to say it," Fred gasped.

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this — this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too — some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Raven. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches … terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him — an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

"What does that mean?" Draco frowned.

"Does Hagrid think Voldemort will try and take Hogwarts?" Fred asked with worry.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he tried it," Remus said with a frown.

**"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! **

Raven smiled, even though she had heard it before it always made her parents seem more real when people spoke about them.

"It was a shock when James got his badge," Remus said after seeing the look on Raven's face. "He was the one coming up with all our pranks and he was given the horrifying position of stopping people misbehaving."

"He was more shocked than we were," Sirius reminded him.

"No, that was his parents," Remus smiled.

"True," Sirius smiled.

"Did he stop pranking?" Raven asked.

"God no," Sirius laughed.

"He didn't feel right joining in on our pranking sessions for a month or two, it wasn't until he got his great idea that he jumped back in full force," Remus smiled fondly.

"What was the prank?" George asked.

"On our potions teacher after he made a dozen first years cry in a lesson," Remus said. "The last year he only pranked to protect the people he was close to."

Remus paused again, memories he had pushed away clawed at his brain, with a painful thought he promised himself that he would share every single memory of Lily and James with Raven.

**Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before… **

"He did," Sirius said darkly, "every time he met them."

**probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

**"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em … maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' — an' —"**

Everyone bowed their head in respect, Charlie holding Raven slightly closer to him as she closed her eyes.

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

**"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad — knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find — anyway …**

**"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then — an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing — he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh — took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even — but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Raven. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age — the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts — an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

"He could have been gentler when saying that," Bill muttered.

**Something very painful was going on in Raven's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, she saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than she had ever remembered it before — and she remembered something else, for the first time in her life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

Raven closed her eyes tighter as she felt all the eyes on her, Charlie squeezed her arm slightly.

"You remembered that..?" Charlie asked softly, it was the question on everybody's mind.

"Just a bit," she responded before sending Remus a pleading look.

**Hagrid was watching her sadly.**

**"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot …"**

**"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Raven jumped; she had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

**"Now, you listen here, girl," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured — **

"He really better not have," Fred growled.

**and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion — asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types — just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end —"**

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley — I'm warning you — one more word …"**

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"That's better," George muttered.

**"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

**Raven, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

**"But what happened to Vol-, sorry — I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

**"Good question, Raven. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see … he was gettin' more an' more powerful — why'd he go?**

**"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.**

"He got part of it right," Draco said. "Some did come out of trances because he lost his power, others faked it."

**"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Raven. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on — I dunno what it was, no one does — but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

**Hagrid looked at Raven with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Raven, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. **

Hermione chuckled quietly, "if it was a mistake I will burn every one of my books."

**A witch? Her? How could she possibly be? She'd spent her life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if she was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock her in her cupboard? If she'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick her around like a football?**

"It doesn't work like that," Bill said regrettably.

**"Hagrid," she said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a witch."**

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

**"Not a witch, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"**

**Raven looked into the fire. Now she came to think about it … every odd thing that had ever made her aunt and uncle furious with her had happened when she, Raven, had been upset or angry … chased by Dudley's gang, she had somehow found himself out of their reach … dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, she'd managed to make it grow back … and the very last time Dudley had hit her, hadn't she got her revenge, without even realising she was doing it? Hadn't she set a boa constrictor on him?**

"Not exactly like that," Charlie smiled. "It was defending you."

**Raven looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at her.**

**"See?" said Hagrid. "Raven Potter, not a witch — you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

**"Haven't I told you she's not going?" he hissed. "She's going to Stonewall High and she'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and she needs all sorts of rubbish — spell books and wands and —"**

"Rubbish?" the twins shouted in anger.

**"If she wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop her," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's daughter goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. Her name's been down ever since she was born! She's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and she won't know herself. She'll be with youngsters of her own sort, fer a change, an' she'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Albus Dumbled—"**

**"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HER MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

Very slowly smirks appeared on everyone's faces.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER —" he thundered, "— INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE — IN — FRONT — OF — ME!"**

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Raven saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

The twins roared with laughter as quiet chuckles spread around the room.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

**"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

"Of course," Fred and George sniggered.

**He cast a sideways look at Raven under his bushy eyebrows.**

**"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm — er — not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff — one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job —"**

**"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Raven.**

"You are too nosey for your own good," Hermione shook her head with a smile.

**"Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."**

**"Why were you expelled?"**

"Raven," Hermione sighed.

**"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Raven.**

**"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."**

"Why animals? They should be free!" Charlie groaned.

"That's the end of the chapter," Remus said as he turned the page, "Diagon Alley next," he smiled.

"I'll read!" Draco smirked.

* * *

_**AN: I am a bit late I know, I do have a plan now though, I will work on this story for at least an hour a day (which will hopefully mean much faster updates!)**_

_**This chapter had a slight change in it (which I hope you noticed!) the next chapter will have a bigger change in it so watch out for that!**_

_**Thank you guys for reading.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**AN: *shouts through the locked door* I AM SO SORRY IT HAS TAKEN TO LONG FOR ME TO UPDATE! I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON I UNDERSTAND IF YOU ARE ANGRY! I AM CURRENTLY BOARDED UP IN MY ROOM WITH SALT LINES, DEVIL TRAPS AND SALT GUNS TO PROTECT ME! I AM LACKING MY MAGICAL SPELLS SO I ONLY HOPE WHAT I HAVE FOR NOW WILL WORK! HOPEFULLY I'LL GAIN MY MAGICAL BUDDIES BACK!**_

_***coughs* well, now I've done that and I'm safe, any of you guys out there that watch glee, I'm sorry about your loss, it is truly horrifying what happened and I hope you are all safe and well, I'm here if you want to talk!**_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Draco's smile widened as he took the book from his ex-professor.

**Chapter 5 - Diagon Alley**

"Is this when he comes in then?" Hermione asked in amusement as Draco almost bounced in his seat.

"I'm guessing so," Raven smiled. "I did meet him in Diagon Alley."

**Raven woke early the next morning. Although she could tell it was daylight, she kept her eyes shut tight.**

**"It was a dream," she told herself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for witches. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."**

"I do find it so sad that you expect your life to be worse than it is," Bill said with a frown.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

"What could that be?" Hermione frowned.

**And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Raven thought, her heart sinking. But she still didn't open her eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

"You poor thing," George sighed.

"Do you always do that in a morning?" Fred said with the same tone in his voice, one that was both full of teasing as well as despair.

**Tap. Tap. Tap.**

**"All right," Raven mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

**She sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off her. **

"See! It wasn't a dream!" George shouted in reflief.

"I know that you idiot," Raven laughed as the twins bounced over to her and smothered her with hugs.

**The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.**

**Raven scrambled to her feet, so happy she felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside her. **

"You are insane I hope you know that," Draco sniggered.

"Well what does that make you?" Hermione questioned the boy.

"I'm bored and in need of amusement constantly," he replied smoothly.

**She went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

**"Don't do that."**

"It wants paying," Bill stated.

"I know that now," Raven sighed.

**Raven tried to wave the owl out of the way, **

"Bad idea," George snickered.

**but it snapped its beak fiercely at her and carried on savaging the coat.**

**"Hagrid!" said Raven loudly. "There's an owl —"**

**"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

"Hagrid," Hermione groaned.

"What's wrong with him saying that?" Draco asked the girl.

"She wouldn't know what it meant," was the reply he got.

**"What?"**

**"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."**

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets — bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags … finally, Raven pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

**"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

**"Knuts?"**

**"The little bronze ones."**

"At least he is trying to get her used to the money," Fred said to his brother.

**Raven counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Raven could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window.**

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.**

**"Best be off, Raven, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

**Raven was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. She had just thought of something that made her feel as though the happy balloon inside her had got a puncture.**

"Oh no," George cried.

"What did you think of?" Charlie asked, ignoring his brother.

"I'm sure it'll explain," Raven shrugged.

**"Um — Hagrid?"**

**"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

**"I haven't got any money — **

Draco laughed.

"That's what you were worried about?" he gasped.

"She didn't know she had money," Sirius pointed out.

**and you heard Uncle Vernon last night … he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

**"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

"On the contrary, they left you everything," Sirius nodded.

**"But if their house was destroyed —"**

**"They didn' keep their gold in the house, girl! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold — an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

**"Wizards have banks?"**

**"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

**Raven dropped the bit of sausage she was holding.**

"Bit surprised there?" Charlie asked Raven with a slight nudge.

"It isn't every day that you learn mythical creatures are real," Raven said with a small shake of her head.

**"Goblins?"**

**"Yeah — so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Raven. **

"That sounds strangely foreshadowing," Remus frowned.

"I doubt it was, I do not have any intention to be messing with Goblins," Raven frowned.

"You better not do, they hold very strong grudges," Bill frowned.

**Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe — 'cept maybe Hogwarts. **

"Gringotts is safer than Hogwarts by a long standard, especially if you are within the Goblin ranks," Bill said.

**As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you — gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see.**

**"Got everythin'? Come on, then."**

**Raven followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

**"How did you get here?" Raven asked, looking around for another boat.**

**"Flew," said Hagrid.**

"Flew?" a few people said with amusement.

**"Flew?"**

**"Yeah — but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

**They settled down in the boat, Raven still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

**"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Raven another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter — er — speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

**"Of course not," said Raven, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.**

**"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Raven asked.**

Hermione groaned. "Why did you ask?"

"I knew nothing of this world, I was curious," Raven answered as she stuck her tongue out.

**"Spells — enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high-security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way — Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

"Which is why it is safe than Hogwarts, if you know your way around the castle you can get in and out, whereas Gringotts seems to constantly change and it is only the carts and their enchanter that know the way perfectly," Bill said.

**Raven sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Raven had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, she'd never had so many questions in her life.**

"Hagrid wouldn't have minded you asking," Remus smiled.

**"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

**"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Raven asked, before she could stop himself.**

"You often do that," Draco smirked.

"She does what?" Bill asked.

"Talks without thinking about it or being unable to stop herself from saying something," Hermione said.

**" 'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

**"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?"**

"Not much it seems," Hermione said darkly thinking of the past year.

"They keep muggles away from us," Bill said with a frown.

**"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

**"Why?"**

**"Why? Blimey, Raven, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.**

**Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Raven couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Raven? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

"Wizards and witches really are useless in a muggle environment," Hermione pondered outloud.

**"Hagrid," said Raven, panting a bit as she ran to keep up, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"**

"There better not be," Charlie

**"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

**"You'd like one?"**

**"Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go."**

"Maybe you should take him to the reserve at some point Charlie," Bill said thoughtfully.

"Maybe," he snickered in reply thinking of the events that occurred later in that year.

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Raven so she could buy their tickets.**

"Did you know much about money?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.

"I knew enough to use it when I was required to," Raven responded.

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

"He should try harder to blend in," Remus frowned.

"He shouldn't have gone to collect her," Bill said.

**"Still got yer letter, Raven?" he asked as he counted stitches.**

**Raven took the parchment envelope out of her pocket.**

**"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

**Raven unfolded a second piece of paper she hadn't noticed the night before, and read:**

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**UNIFORM**

**First-year students will require:**

**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)**

**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**

"We only wear that on special occasions," Fred muttered.

"First years tend to wear it for the first few months of school," Charlie pointed out.

**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**

**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**

**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**

"Why is that important?" Raven asked.

"Surely so the House Elves can return the uniform to the correct people," Hermione said back.

"Their magic can tell who it belongs to, the names are for staff and students to use," Draco said with a shrug.

**COURSE BOOKS**

**All students should have a copy of each of the following:**

**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk**

**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot**

**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling**

Fred snorted as George said, "When we read that but he waffled quite a bit."

**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch**

"Emeric also taught us how to switch objects into others," Fred sniggered.

"Will you stop," Hermione said with a smile twitching on her lips.

**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore**

**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger**

**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander**

**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble**

**OTHER EQUIPMENT**

**1 wand**

**1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)**

**1 set glass or crystal phials**

**1 telescope**

**1 set brass scales**

**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**

Hermione frowned as Draco read that line out before making another note on her piece of paper.

**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**

Draco paused after reading that out before throwing a look at Raven, whilst he classed the two girls as friends he was still slightly annoyed about that.

**"Can we buy all this in London?" Raven wondered aloud.**

**"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

**Raven had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

"He knows better than that," Remus frowned.

**"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Raven had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? **

"Yes, yes and no," George said with a large smile.

**If Raven hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, she might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Raven couldn't help trusting him.**

"You really shouldn't be so trusting," Bill frowned.

**"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Raven wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Raven had the most peculiar feeling that only she and Hagrid could see it. Before she could mention this, Hagrid had steered her inside.**

"Only magical people can see it," Remus said.

"I know that now," Raven smiled.

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

**"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Raven's shoulder and making Raven's knees buckle.**

**"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Raven, "is this — can this be — ?"**

"And so the fame starts here," Hermione laughed.

"Unfortunately," Raven muttered as Charlie squeezed her hand slightly, causing her to smile.

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

**"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Raven Potter … what an honour."**

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Raven and seized her hand, tears in his eyes.**

**"Welcome back, Miss. Potter, welcome back."**

**Raven didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at her. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

"He should have done something to take you out of there," Bill said.

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Raven found herself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

"That is too much, especially for someone who has just learnt that they are famous," Remus frowned.

**"Doris Crockford, Miss. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

**"So proud, Miss. Potter, I'm just so proud."**

**"Always wanted to shake your hand — I'm all of a flutter."**

**"Delighted, Miss. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

**"I've seen you before!" said Raven, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

"Oh Raven, that is a bad idea," Remus laughed.

**"She remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? She remembers me!"**

"See," he chuckled.

**Raven shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

**"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Raven, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

**"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Raven's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."**

"That will be annoying," Remus said with a frown.

"Oh he was," Hermione said as her eyes narrowed.

**"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

**"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. **

"Of course she needs it," Bill said harshly.

**"You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

"Why is he teaching it if he's scared?" Charlie asked with narrowed eyes, remembering something Raven had said but he couldn't place the actual words that were spoken.

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Raven to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

**"Must get on — lots ter buy Come on, Raven."**

**Doris Crockford shook Raven's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.**

**Hagrid grinned at Raven.**

**"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

**"Is he always that nervous?"**

**"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience. … They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — **

"So why teach it?" Remus asked loudly.

**now, where's me umbrella?"**

**Vampires? Hags? Raven's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.**

**"Three up … two across …" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Raven."**

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

**The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.**

**"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

"It's a shame Lily and James couldn't take you," Remus said softly

**He grinned at Raven's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Raven looked quickly over her shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

"I did that," Hermione smiled. "It was amazing to be in such a magical place, each time I'm there is almost as good as the first."

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.**

**"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

"Let her look around for a bit before though," Bill said with a smile. "She needs to take it all in."

**Raven wished she had about eight more eyes. She turned her head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they're mad."**

"It is expensive, costs are just rising, everyone is going to struggle soon," Remus sighed.

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Raven's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Raven heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —" **

Raven smiled sadly at the mention of her past broom.

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Raven had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon. …**

**"Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

**They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was —**

**"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly **

"They would have heard that," Bill sighed.

**as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Raven. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Raven noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. **

"They are also polite to customers unless they do something to deserve a hostile treatment.

**Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

"I love this poem," Hermione, Remus and Raven sighed.

**Enter, stranger, but take heed**

**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**

**For those who take, but do not earn,**

**Must pay most dearly in their turn.**

**So if you seek beneath our floors**

**A treasure that was never yours,**

**Thief, you have been warned, beware**

**Of finding more than treasure there.**

**"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

"Why does he keep bringing it up?" Hermione frowned.

"I'm not sure, it doesn't sound good," Raven muttered.

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Raven made for the counter.**

**"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Miss. Raven Potter's safe."**

**"You have her key, sir?"**

**"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblins book of numbers. **

"Hagrid," Bill groaned.

"Did he apologise for it?" Remus asked Raven.

"Not that I am aware of… why?" Raven asked hearing all the groans that followed her answer.

"Goblins are proud creatures, clean and dangerous. Hagrid's actions were unsavoury and if he was a normal human he would have been banned from the bank for a length of time," Bill said.

"Why wasn't he then?" Hermione asked.

"He was accompanied by Raven Potter, the girl-who-lived. The Goblin's think highly of you and are willing to give those in your favour a second chance. I am surprised you turned down the chance to read your parents will after that first visit Raven, the Director was disappointed that he wasn't allowed the chance to meet you and become friends of sorts," Bill continued.

"I was never given the offer of looking at a will," Raven frowned.

"The letter was sent out from what I've heard, your magical guardian wrote back saying that after talking about it you refused to join the Goblin's to read it," Bill said with a frown. "Was that not mentioned to you?"

Raven's nod lead to Bill swearing out loud.

"I don't fully understand what happened but I will let them know that you had no knowledge, they did take it personally you see," Bill said.

"Thank you," Raven said as her mind began to work furiously, trying to understand what Bill had said.

**The goblin wrinkled his nose. Raven watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

**"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.**

**The goblin looked at it closely.**

**"That seems to be in order."**

**"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

**The goblin read the letter carefully.**

**"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Raven followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.**

**"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Raven asked.**

**"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

"You don't say that to a child," Remus sighed.

**Griphook held the door open for them. Raven, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off.**

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Raven tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. **

"It is meant to be," Draco sniggered before continuing.

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

**Raven's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late — **

"Do you think it was a Dragon?" Hermione gasped.

"It is likely," Charlie said stiffly, disapproving of the Goblin's using them as guards.

"That isn't good for the Dragon though," Draco said sadly.

"No, depending on the Goblin clan they will rotate the Dragon's they use, so that living in the dark underground does not affect them drastically, but it isn't good for them," Charlie said.

**they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

**"I never know," Raven called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"Stalactite's grow from the ceiling and stalagmite's grow from the ground," Hermione said.

**"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."**

**He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Raven gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

Everyone in the room stayed silent, knowing for some money may be a sensitive subject.

**"All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Raven's — it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from her faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Raven cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to her, buried deep under London.**

"Did you ever get a balance of what you have?" Bill asked.

"No, why?" Raven asked.

"That is likely to just be your trust vault, your family vault is normally deeper and more protected for older families," Draco said.

"Should Raven have gotten a balance of what she has?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, on a regular basis. The family vault would go to the magical guardian but the trust vault would go to Raven, since after the age of eleven it is hers," Bill said.

**Hagrid helped Raven pile some of it into a bag.**

**"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

**"One speed only," said Griphook.**

"There isn't," Raven sniggered.

"That is because Hagrid acted so unsavoury, how did you know though?" Bill asked.

"Before my third year I went to the bank every so often, depending on who took me depended on the speed of the cart," Raven shrugged.

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Raven leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled her back by the scruff of her neck.**

"You will get yourself killed someday you know," Hermione groaned.

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

**"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

Draco paused for a moment before deciding to comment, "that's pretty cool."

**"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

**"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Raven asked.**

**"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.**

"Is that true?" Hermione asked Bill.

"They have monitors that will alert them if someone who shouldn't be in a vault is in one, especially the high security ones," he replied.

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Raven was sure, and she leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least — but at first she thought it was empty. Thens he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Raven longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.**

**"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, its best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

**One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Raven didn't know where to run first now that she had a bag full of money. She didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that she was holding more money than she'd had in her whole life — more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

"You shouldn't have all that," Remus frowned.

**"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Raven, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Raven entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

**"Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Raven started to speak. "Got the lot here — another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."**

Draco smiled widely as he read.

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Raven on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over her head, and began to pin it to the right length.**

**"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"**

**"Yes," said Raven.**

**"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

**Raven was strongly reminded of Dudley, the only difference was that the boy did not seem to take delight in what he was saying, instead it just seemed as though the words he spoke were rehearsed and dejected.**

"They were," Raven said with a smile.

**"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

**"No," said Raven.**

**"Play Quidditch at all?"**

**"No," Raven said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

**"I do — Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my House, and I must say, I agree. Know what House you'll be in yet?"**

**"No," said Raven, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

**"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

**"Mmm," said Raven, wishing she could say something a bit more interesting.**

"You sound like a prat," Fred said with a frown, wondering why the two were happy about this being read out.

**"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, a true emotion coming into his voice as he nodded towards the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Raven and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.**

**"That's Hagrid," said Raven, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

**"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

**"He's the gamekeeper," said Raven. She was liking the boy less and less every second, even if his words were an act.**

**"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage — lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

**"I think he's brilliant," said Raven coldly.**

**"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

**"They're dead," said Raven shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.**

**"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"**

**"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

**"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"**

**"Why would that matter to you? Something else you were told to ask everyone you come into contact with?"**

"You got into an argument?" Remus asked with a smile as Sirius tried to hide his, still unsure of what to think about Raven.

**Madam Malkin attempted to hide the smile that was threatening to show itself as the boy stood up slightly straighter.**

**"How dare you?" the boy sneered.**

**"Quite easily, you see I see you as nothing but a bully, which I have dealt with my whole life. Nothing you could do would be as bad as what has already happened to me. I will give you this piece of informatipn though, you seem to just repeat what has been said around you, which is not so bad now. You should try to change though, you will not gain many friends by doing this, just people that fear you."**

**"You are clearly less of a witch then I originally thought," the boy said with what should have been a sneer, instead it was said softly with a thoughtful tone.**

"You made me think about my father and what he always said, I was debating following him like I was doing or actually enjoying myself at Hogwarts," Draco said softly.

**But before Raven could respond, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Raven, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

**"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

**Raven was rather quiet as she ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought her (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

"James' favourite," Sirius and Remus said together with sad smiles on their faces.

**"What's up?" said Hagrid.**

**"Nothing," Raven lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Raven cheered up a bit when she found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, she said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"**

**"Blimey, Raven, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know — not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

**"Don't make me feel worse," said Raven. She told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's.**

**"— and she said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in —"**

**"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh were — he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

**"So what is Quidditch?"**

"James should have a heart attack if he heard you say that," Remus smiled sadly.

**"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules."**

"It isn't," George groaned.

**"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

**"School Houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —"**

"They aren't," Hermione frowned.

**"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Raven gloomily.**

**"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

"That's a lie," Sirius said grimly.

**"Vol-, sorry — You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

**"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

**They bought Raven's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Raven away from Curses and Counter-curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

**"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

**"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

**Hagrid wouldn't let Raven buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Raven, Raven himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).**

"That's random," Draco said to himself.

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Raven's list again.**

**"Just yer wand left — oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

**Raven felt herself go red.**

**"You don't have to —"**

"He wants to thought Harry," Remus said with a smile.

**"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at — an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."**

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Raven now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. **

"She sounds lovely," Bill said.

"She has a great personality as well," Charlie smiled.

**She couldn't stop stammering her thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

**"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

**A magic wand … this was what Raven had been really looking forward to.**

"It's what all the kids want," Remus laughed.

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382b.c. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Raven felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

"It's an amazing feeling," Hermione smiled.

"Wait, you felt that too?" Remus asked shocked.

"Yeah… why?"

"Only powerful witches and wizards can…" Remus said in a quiet voice.

"Really?" Draco gasped before he continued to read.

**"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Raven jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

**"Hello," said Raven awkwardly.**

**"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Raven Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

"He remembers it?" Remus asked shocked.

"He takes great pride in his work," Raven said. "He remember every wand he sells."

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Raven. Raven wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

"They are," everyone in the room said.

**"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Raven were almost nose to nose. Raven could see herself reflected in those misty eyes.**

**"And that's where …"**

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Raven's forehead with a long, white finger.**

**"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands … well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do. …"**

**He shook his head and then, to Raven's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

**"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again. … Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

**"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

**"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

**"Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

**"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.**

"Of course he doesn't," Sirius said rolling his eyes.

**"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Raven noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

**"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now — Miss. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

**"Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Raven.**

"I said that," Hermione said.

**"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Raven from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

**Raven suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between her nostrils, was doing this on its own. **

"You didn't notice that?" George sniggered.

"I was absorbed with what he was saying," Raven huffed.

**Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

**"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beech-wood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."**

**Raven took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once.**

"That's a no," Bill said amused.

"He got mine right on the first go," Hermione said with a smile.

"I tried three before he got mine," Bill said.

"I tried two," Remus said.

"Ten," Draco said.

"One," Fred said.

"Two," George said.

"I tried seven," Charlie said a bit sheepish.

**"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —"**

**Raven tried — but she had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

**"No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

**Raven tried. And tried. She had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

"How many did you try Ray?" Charlie asked.

"I'm not sure, I wasn't really keeping count, there must have been just over ten or so I think," she responded.

**"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

**Raven took the wand. She felt a sudden warmth in her fingers. She raised the wand above her head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. **

"That's the wand," Bill smiled.

**Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well … how curious … how very curious …"**

"What's curious," Fred smiled.

**He put Raven's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious … curious …"**

**"Sorry," said Raven, "but what's curious?"**

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Raven with his pale stare.**

**"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar."**

"What?" George asked shocked.

"Voldemort has the brother wand," Remus sighed.

**Raven swallowed.**

**"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember. … I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter. … After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great."**

"That sounds quite bad," Remus said.

"He was probably admiring the magic that was done, not the actions," Hermione said.

**Raven shivered. She wasn't sure she liked Mr. Ollivander too much. She paid seven gold Galleons for her wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

**The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Raven and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty Raven didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; she didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Raven's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Raven only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped her on the shoulder.**

**"Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Raven a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Raven kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

"It does when you go back to the muggle life," Hermione said.

**"You all right, Raven? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Raven wasn't sure she could explain. She'd just had the best birthday of her life — and yet — she chewed her hamburger, trying to find the words.**

**"Everyone thinks I'm special," she said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander … but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry — I mean, the night my parents died."**

"You worry too much," Draco smiled sadly smiled sadly.

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

**"Don' you worry, Raven. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 'smatter of fact."**

"Hogwarts is a great place," Remus smiled.

**Hagrid helped Raven on to the train that would take her back to the Dursleys, then handed her an envelope.**

**"Yer ticket fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September — King's Cross — it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me. … See yeh soon, Raven."**

**The train pulled out of the station. Raven wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; she rose in her seat and pressed her nose against the window, but she blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"And you're off back to the Dursley's," Bill sighed.

"I'll read next," Fred said.

* * *

**_AN: It's been a long time! I am sorry it took so long to update but the holiday's is here and hopefully the updates will be a lot quicker now!_**

**_Thank you guys for waiting so nicely, it means a lot to me._**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six – The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**

"Maybe we should take a break?" Remus said as he ran his hand through his hair.

"No!" Fred and George groaned.

"What time is it?" Charlie asked as he moved slightly away from Raven to stretch out his body.

"It's nine," Sirius said as he nodded to the wall that was behind the couch Raven was sat on.

"We'll read one more then stop for today? I don't know about all of you but I am tired," Draco said.

"That sounds good," Remus said.

Fred grinned widely as he picked up the book.

**Chapter 6 - The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**

**Raven's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun. **

"Was it ever?" Draco drawled.

"They were alright sometimes," Raven shrugged as she leant back in her seat.

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Raven he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Raven in her cupboard, force her to do anything, or shout at her — **

"That sounds like a much better improvement," Remus said.

**in fact, they didn't speak to her at all. Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Raven in it were empty.**

"That isn't though," Sirius said before he could stop himself. Raven stiffed slightly at his voice but made no other indications that she had heard him.

** Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did be come a bit depressing after a while.**

"I could only imagine it would do," Bill said heavily.

**Raven kept to her room, with her new owl for company. She had decided to call her Hedwig, a name she had found in A History of Magic. Her school books were very interesting. **

Fred paused in his reading to shake his head at the young woman.

"We had such hope for you," George sighed.

Raven smiled sadly, knowing the two of them were joking. "I guess I cannot help it," she sighed.

**She lay on her bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. **

"Lovely," Remus sighed.

"It means that she likes her," Charlie said.

**Every night before she went to sleep, Raven ticked off another day on the piece of paper she had pinned to the wall, count ing down to September the first.**

"I think almost every child in Hogwarts does that," Remus smiled thinking back to his childhood, how each of the marauders would confide in each other and wish for the school to start so they could be together once more.

**On the last day of August she thought she'd better speak to her aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, **

"You left it that late?" Hermione gasped.

"I didn't want to give him that much of a chance to change his mind," Raven said simply.

**so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

Most people in the room sniggered, imagining the scene that brought to their minds.

**"Er — Uncle Vernon?"**

**Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.**

**"Er — I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to — to go to Hogwarts."**

**Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

**"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"**

**Grunt. Raven supposed that meant yes.**

**"Thank you."**

"You should wait for a verbal answer," Draco frowned.

**She was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.**

**"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"**

**Raven didn't say anything.**

**"Where is this school, anyway?"**

**"I don't know," said Raven, realizing this for the first time. **

"It says it is based in Scotland in Hogwarts: A History," Hermione frowned.

**She pulled the ticket Hagrid had given her out of her pocket.**

**"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," she read.**

**Her aunt and uncle stared.**

**"Platform what?"**

**"Nine and three-quarters."**

**"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."**

**"Its on my ticket."**

**"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."**

"They're just taking you to prove you wrong," Bill said with a large frown showing on his face.

**"Why are you going to London?" Raven asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

**"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

The majority of the room sniggered once more, everyone except Raven and Sirius that is.

**Raven woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. She got up and pulled on her jeans because she didn't want to walk into the station in her wizard's robes — she'd change on the train. **

"Good idea," George laughed.

**She checked her Hogwarts list yet again to make sure she had everything she needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Raven's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Raven, and they had set off.**

"More like bribed," Raven muttered quietly so only Charlie could hear her.

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Raven's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. Raven thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

**"Well, there you are, girl. Platform nine — platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

"That bastard!" Hermione exclaimed in horror.

Remus, Bill, Charlie and Sirius both turned to Hermione in shock whilst the twins grinned widely at the young girls language.

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

**"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Raven turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing. Raven's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was she going to do? She was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. She'd have to ask someone.**

"Just be careful when doing so," Bill said.

**She stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Raven couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Raven was being stu pid on purpose. Getting desperate, Raven asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Raven was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, she had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hog warts and she had no idea how to do it; she was stranded in the mid dle of a station with a trunk she could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl.**

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell her something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. She wondered if she should get out her wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.**

"Wasn't one of the teachers there?" Remus frowned.

"No, there never has been," Hermione said.

"Really, there was when I was there," Bill said.

"Maybe something happened at Hogwarts that meant all the teachers had to stay back," Charlie offered.

"They cannot have a train full of students with no teacher on board," Remus said.

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind her and she caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"— packed with Muggles, of course —"**

"Who is shouting about muggles in public?" Hermione gasped.

**Raven swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like Raven's in front of them — and they had an owl.**

"You're mother?" she asked the twins.

"She knows not to shout about muggles," Bill frowned.

"Why aren't you guys just floo-ing there?" Charlie frowned.

**Heart hammering, Raven pushed her cart after them. They stopped and so did she, just near enough to hear what they were say ing.**

"You shouldn't eavesdrop!" George gasped as he scolded his younger friend.

**"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

**"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go…"**

**"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."**

"Why did she ask, she's been going there for years and it isn't like it ever changes," Bill muttered to himself.

"Maybe Molly wanted to make Ginny feel included," Remus offered.

"Unlikely, but there is a chance," Charlie said.

**What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Raven watched, careful not to blink in case she missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of her and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

**"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

**"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"**

**"Sorry, George, dear."**

**"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, **

"You two should stop that you know," Raven said softly. "You just confuse her more by doing it."

"She's the one that cannot tell us apart," Fred shrugged, "why should we make it easier for her?"

**and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, be cause a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it?**

"Magic," George sniggered as Raven stuck her tongue out at the older boy.

**Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier — he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't any where.**

**There was nothing else for it.**

**"Excuse me," Raven said to the plump woman.**

**"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."**

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.**

**"Yes," said Raven. "The thing is — the thing is, I don't know how to —"**

**"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Raven nodded.**

**"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

"She should have let Ron go first, just so you could see it before you went running at a wall," Charlie frowned.

**"Er — okay," said Raven.**

**She pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.**

"It is as well," Raven muttered.

**She started to walk toward it. People jostled her on their way to platforms nine and ten. Raven walked more quickly. She was going to smash right into that barrier and then she'd be in trouble — lean ing forward on her cart, she broke into a heavy run — **

"If you think you're going to crash why run?" Draco asked her.

"I don't know, it just felt right," Raven responded.

**the barrier was coming nearer and nearer — she wouldn't be able to stop — the cart was out of control — she was a foot away — she closed her eyes ready for the crash —**

**It didn't come … she kept on running … she opened her eyes.**

**A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Raven looked behind her and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. She had done it.**

The twins cheered as the others in the room laughed at them.

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.**

"It's always chaos on the platform," Fred paused as he said with a longing smile.

"It's a shame you guys won't be coming back," Raven said with a sad smile. "With you around chaos happens a lot easier."

"Unfortunately we must spread out chaos further around the world," George sighed.

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Raven pushed her cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. She passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

**"Oh, Neville," she heard the old woman sigh.**

"Why couldn't she just accio it?" Hermione frowned.

"She thinks Neville needs to learn to be responsible," Raven shrugged, ignoring Hermione's shocked look.

"How did you know that?" Draco asked.

"I spent a lot of time talking to Neville in our third year," Raven shrugged.

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

**"Give us a look, Lee, go on."**

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

Hermione pulled a face.

"Spiders aren't that bad," Raven said.

"It's the fact we never saw it after a week into the school year," Hermione said rather defensively.

**Raven pressed on through the crowd until she found an empty compartment near the end of the train. She put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave her trunk toward the train door. She tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice she dropped it painfully on her foot.**

"You really should ask for help," Remus frowned.

**"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.**

"You guys helped her out?" Bill laughed.

"Of course, she was tiny and I was afraid that she would end up getting crushed," George tried to joke.

**"Yes, please," Raven panted.**

**"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"**

**With the twins' help, Raven's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

**"Thanks," said Raven, pushing her sweaty hair out of her eyes.**

**"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Raven's lightning scar.**

**"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you — ?"**

**"She is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Raven.**

**"What?" said Raven.**

**"Raven Potter," chorused the twins.**

**"Oh, her," said Raven. "I mean, yes, I am."**

George sniggered as Fred shook his head.

"I still cannot believe that's what you said."

"Just read Fred," she said sticking her tongue out.

**The two boys gawked at her, and Raven felt herself turning red. Then, to her relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.**

**"Fred? George? Are you there?"**

**"Coming, Mom."**

**With a last look at Raven, the twins hopped off the train.**

**Raven sat down next to the window where, half hidden, she could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. **

"I hope you know that George saw you," Fred said.

"Really?" Raven gasped.

"Yeah, I was curious about you and I saw you duck back after you heard your name," George shrugged.

**Their mother had just taken out her handker chief.**

**"Ron, you've got something on your nose."**

**The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

"Social suicide," Charlie said sadly as he shook his head.

**"Mom — geroff." He wriggled free.**

**"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.**

**"Shut up," said Ron.**

**"Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

**"He's coming now."**

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Raven noticed a shiny red and gold badge on his chest with the letter P on it.**

**"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —"**

**"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

**"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once —"**

**"Or twice —"**

**"A minute —"**

**"All summer —"**

"I do love you guys," Hermione and Raven said with wide smiles.

**"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

**"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.**

**"Because he's a prefect," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl when you get there."**

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

**"Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've — you've blown up a toilet or —"**

"Molly," Remus groaned as Fred, George and Raven all smiled.

**"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

**"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."**

**"It's not funny. And look after Ron."**

**"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

**"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins al ready and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

**"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

**Raven leaned back quickly so they couldn't see her looking.**

"It didn't work," George said in a sing-song voice.

**"You know that black-haired girl who was near us in the station? Know who she is?"**

**"Who?"**

**"Raven Potter!"**

**Raven heard the little girl's voice.**

**"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see her, Mom, oh please. …"**

"Raven's not something in a zoo," Charlie hissed under his breath.

**"You've already seen her, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't some thing you goggle at in a zoo. Is she really, Fred? How do you know?"**

**"Asked her. Saw her scar. It's really there — like lightning."**

**"Poor dear — no wonder she was alone, I wondered. She was ever so polite when she asked how to get onto the platform."**

**"Never mind that, do you think she remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

**Their mother suddenly became very stern.**

**"I forbid you to ask her, Fred. **

"It wasn't even me that said it," Fred grumbled.

**No, don't you dare. As though she needs reminding of that on her first day at school."**

**"All right, keep your hair on."**

**A whistle sounded.**

**"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.**

**"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

**"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."**

**"George!"**

"She needs to learn the difference between us," George grumbled as Fred nodded next to him.

**"Only joking, Mom."**

**The train began to move. Raven saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.**

**Raven watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Raven felt a great leap of excitement. She didn't know what she was going to — but it had to be better than what she was leaving behind.**

"It was," Raven smiled slightly, thinking off all the good times she had experienced in

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest red headed boy came in.**

**"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Raven. "Everywhere else is full."**

**Raven shook her head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Raven and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Raven saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

**"Hey, Ron."**

**The twins were back.**

**"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jor dan's got a giant tarantula down there."**

**"Right," mumbled Ron.**

**"Raven," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."**

"You left her with that?" Bill groaned.

"Ron seemed to be pretty level headed at that moment," Fred shrugged before continuing to read.

**"Bye," said Raven and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

**"Are you really Raven Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

**Raven nodded.**

**"Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got — you know …"**

**He pointed at Raven's forehead.**

"Does he really need to do that?" Remus asked with a groan.

**Raven pulled back her bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.**

**"So that's where You-Know-Who — ?"**

**"Yes," said Raven, "but I can't remember it."**

**"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

"You were told not to ask," Charlie huffed.

**"Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

**"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Raven for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

"At least he's trying," Bill sighed.

**"Are all your family wizards?" asked Raven, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found her.**

**"Er — yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."**

"Why not?" Hermione asked.

"He doesn't want to talk to us," Bill explained. "He isn't keen on magical people."

"A lot of people born into magical families without magic are like that," Remus said.

**"So you must know loads of magic already."**

**The Weasley's were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

All the Weasley's present as well as Draco snorted at the thought.

**"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

**"Horrible — well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

**"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five broth ers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."**

"They should have really gotten Ron some new things instead of Percy," Charlie frowned.

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.**

Raven tensed slightly, going unnoticed by everybody except Charlie, who had felt her move.

**"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff— I mean, I got Scabbers instead."**

**Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.**

**Raven didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, she'd never had any money in her life until a month ago, and she told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

All the Weasley's present began to growl quietly.

"What? Why would that cheer him up?" A flabbergasted Draco demanded. "That is so wrong in so many ways."

**"… and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about be ing a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort —"**

**Ron gasped.**

**"What?" said Raven.**

**"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people —"**

**"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Raven, "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn. … I bet," he added, voicing for the first time some thing that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."**

"Far from it," Hermione smiled.

"I'm not that good though," Raven shrugged.

**"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."**

**While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.**

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"**

**Raven, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to her feet, **

"Why hadn't you eaten?" Fred said as he paused in his reading.

"Surely you guessed that the Dursleys are the best to be around," Sirius said bitterly.

"I wasn't hungry that morning," Raven said softly with a shrug, half telling the truth.

**but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sand wiches. Raven went out into the corridor.**

**She had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that she had pockets rattling with gold and silver she was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as she could carry — **

"They don't sell them," Remus smiled.

**but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Raven had never seen in her life. Not want ing to miss anything, she got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.**

**Ron stared as Raven brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.**

**"Hungry, are you?"**

**"Starving," said Raven, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."**

"He will eat anything," George frowned.

"He requests corned beef at home," Fred agreed.

**"Swap you for one of these," said Raven, holding up a pasty. "Go on —"**

**"You don't want this, its all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

**"Go on, have a pasty," said Raven, who had never had any thing to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Raven's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay for gotten).**

**"What are these?" Raven asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?" He was start ing to feel that nothing would surprise her.**

**"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."**

**"What?"**

**"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."**

**Raven unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Under neath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.**

**"So this is Dumbledore!" said Raven.**

**"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. **

"She did just say his name idiot," Draco muttered.

**"Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa — thanks —"**

**Raven turned over her card and read:**

**_ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_**

**_CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS_**

**_Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling._**

"It is a good one to start with," Remus said.

**Raven turned the card back over and saw, to her astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.**

**"He's gone!"**

**"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her … do you want it? You can start collecting."**

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.**

**"Help yourself," said Raven. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

**"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "Weird!"**

"It is weird but the muggles have televisions," Draco said the word slowly looking at Hermione to see if he got it right, "instead which sound great."

**Raven stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on her card and gave her a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Raven couldn't keep her eyes off them. Soon she had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcraft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.**

"Never eat them," George said with a disgusted look on his face.

**"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Raven. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor — you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once."**

"I did," he shuddered.

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.**

**"Bleaaargh — see? Sprouts."**

**They had a good time eating the Every Flavor Beans. Raven got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.**

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.**

"The scenery is magnificent," Hermione sighed dreamily.

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Raven had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

**"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

**"He'll turn up," said Raven.**

**"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him …"**

**He left.**

**"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."**

"No you shouldn't talk about anyone's pet like that," Bill said rather sternly.

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

**"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…"**

"He actually tried it?" Fred laughed, having read ahead.

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.**

**"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —"**

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

**"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.**

Hermione groaned and hid her face in her hands.

**"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

**"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."**

"You really did need to calm down," Remus smiled at the younger girl.

**She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

**"Er — all right."**

**He cleared his throat.**

**_"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,_**

**_Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."_**

Sniggers spread around the room as Fred read out the spell.

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.**

**"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"**

"Wow, you have a set of lungs," Sirius smiled.

**She said all this very fast.**

**Raven looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.**

**"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

**"Raven Potter," said Raven.**

**"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."**

**"Am I?" said Raven, feeling dazed.**

"It's all made up bull-" Remus shushed Sirius before he could complete his sentence, gesturing for Fred to continue.

**"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what House you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad. … Any way, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."**

**And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.**

**"Whatever House I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. **

Hermione sat back as though she had been struck. She was aware that Ron did not like her but to hear such words like that hurt more than she could explain.

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

**"What House are your brothers in?" asked Raven.**

**"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imag ine if they put me in Slytherin."**

**"That's the House Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

**"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking de pressed.**

**"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Raven, trying to take Ron's mind off Houses. **

"That's nice of you," Charlie whispered to the young girl next to him.

**"So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"**

**Raven was wondering what a wizard did once they'd finished school.**

**"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa do ing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high se curity vault."**

"When did Ron hear about that?" George asked.

"I'm not sure," Fred said.

**Raven stared.**

**"Really? What happened to them?"**

**"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."**

**Raven turned this news over in her mind. She was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. She supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.**

"It is," Sirius and Remus nodded.

**"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

**"Er — I don't know any," Raven confessed.**

**"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world —" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Raven through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.**

It was Draco's turn to groan as he realised who it would be.

**Three boys entered, and Raven recognized the middle one at once: It was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Raven with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

**"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Raven Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

**"Yes," said Raven in a very controlled tone. She was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.**

**"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy with a hint of annoyance in his voice, noticing where Raven was looking. "And my names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snig ger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

**"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasley's have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." The tone in which Draco Malfoy had spoken was one of almost distain, Raven wasn't sure if it was directed at Ron or not.**

**He turned back to Raven. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."**

**He held out his hand to shake Raven's, but Raven didn't take it.**

**"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," she said coolly.**

"I did take what you said in the shop in consideration, if Crabbe and Goyle wasn't there I would have acted differently," Draco said.

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks and he gave Raven a sad look that lasted for only a second.**

**"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly, almost cautiously. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasley's and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."**

**Both Raven and Ron stood up.**

**"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.**

**"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.**

**"Unless you get out now," said Raven, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than her or Ron.**

"You really hit a nerve there you know," Raven said slightly bitterly.

"I am sorry," Draco sighed.

"I know, it's just difficult reading this," Raven sighed as she leant against Charlie's side, a strange tiredness creeping up on her, making it hard for her to concentrate on what was being said.

**"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."**

**Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle — Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scab bers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disap peared at once. **

"One good thing that rat did," Hermione sniffed.

**Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a sec ond later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

**"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

**"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Raven. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No — I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep."**

"Typical," Sirius sneered.

**And so he had.**

**"You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Raven explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

**"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disap peared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with some thing?"**

"He needs to learn how to treat other people," George said in disgust.

**"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

**"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

"He is aware that you are a girl isn't he?" Charlie asked slightly nudging Raven, who shrugged slightly.

**"All right — I only came in here because people outside are be having very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"**

**Ron glared at her as she left. Raven peered out of the window. It was getting dark. She could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.**

**Both her and Ron took turns standing outside the compartment whilst the other changed into their robes. **

"Good," Charlie said to himself.

**Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers un derneath them.**

**A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."**

**Raven's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, she saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.**

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Raven shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Raven heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Raven?"**

"He shouldn't have singled you out," Remus frowned.

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.**

**"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Raven thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

**"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

**There was a loud "Oooooh!"**

"That first sight is amazing," everyone agreed with Hermione's words.

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

**"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Raven and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione.**

**"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

**"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.**

**"Oy, you there! **

"You don't talk to children like that," Remus groaned.

**Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was check ing the boats as people climbed out of them.**

**"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. **

"At least he found his toad," Bill said with a chuckle.

**Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

**"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"**

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the cas tle door.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Fred smiled, putting the book down on the table.

* * *

_**AN: That took longer to do than I thought it would. It's done now though! The next chapter is a break (a nighttime) before we continue with the reading.**_

_**I hope you are all enjoying it.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7 – Night time**_

"Where are we all going to sleep?" Hermione wondered softly.

"I'm guessing we head through that hallway," Charlie said, nodding over to the hallway that had appeared behind Hermione's couch.

Remus stood and walked over to the hallway, slowly looking at the number of rooms and frowning as he stumbled across a few name plaques which were hung on the doors.

"I think we are all grouped up already," Remus confessed as he walked back to the group.

"Yes, the rooms have names on them, there is three groups of twos and one group of three. Bill, Charlie and Fred, you guys have the last door on the left," the three of them nodded and set off for their room. "Sirius, you and I are opposite them. Draco, Hermione, you two are next to us, first door on your right and Charlie, yourself and Raven are opposite Hermione and Draco, on the left. If that is alright with all of you," Remus said, unsure about how he felt with the two girls both paired up with a male room buddy.

"That's fine," Charlie and Hermione both said whilst Draco nodded.

"Do you want me to take Raven?" Remus asked Charlie who was slowly sitting the said girl up.

"She's not asleep yet, just close to it," Charlie said. "I have no problem taking her, she just needs to be guided in this state."

"Ok then, I guess we'll all see each other in the morning," Remus said as he looked around for Sirius, only to sigh, realizing that the other man had left.

* * *

_**Fred, George & Bill**_

"What's your thoughts on everything that's happened?" Bill said with a sigh after he had closed the door.

Whilst not everybody knew that the twins were more intellectual than they allowed people to see, Bill was one of the ones that could always witness their cleverness.

"It's a shock," Fred said after giving his brother a look.

"We had wondered if something was happening but –"

"Raven always had excuses for everything," Fred finished for his brother as he trailed off.

"We thought… well we never imagined that it would be like this," George sighed.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Bill said.

"We tried to," George argued.

"No one would listen," Fred added.

"After the summer holiday we kept an extra eye on her which made us worry more," George admitted.

"We did forget about it as the year went on though, she seemed so.."

"Together?" Bill offered as the two nodded. "We need to be there for her. Whenever she needs it," Bill said in a tone that left no room for discussion.

"We are anyway," Fred said defensively.

"We found her in her Second year and tried to cheer her up. We helped her stop worrying in her Third year. Fourth year we were there for her when Ron," George almost spat his younger brothers name out as though it was a dirty word. "Did not care."

"This year we've been helping out as much as we can. She just doesn't realize most of it," Fred said.

"I'm sure she does. She picked everything up," Bill said as he shook his head, confused at how involved his brothers seemed to be in this young girls like.

"Speaking of picking things up," Fred said with a devilish smile. "Did you notice the thing between Charlie and our little Raven?"

"Yes, it makes a huge change from when we saw them together last time," George smirked, thinking back to the World Cup and how awkward the two were around each other.

"Leave them alone," Bill laughed, thinking the exact same as George._ 'But then again,'_ he thought as he laid back in his bed, _'it wouldn't be so bad if they did get into a relationship. I'll just have to wait and see.'_

* * *

_**Sirius & Remus**_

"Why did you leave?" Remus demanded angrily.

"I didn't know that you wanted me to stay and help you give orders out," Sirius said with a slight sneer.

"You need to grow up," Remus muttered.

"What was that?" Sirius said stiffly.

"You know full well what I said. You are still acting like you did when you were eleven Sirius!"

"Well it isn't exactly my fault is it?" Sirius hissed.

"No," Remus said. "Your family is to blame. They are the reason you hate anything to do with Slytherin and why you are turning against your own godchild.

"I am not –"

"You are and you know you are! Just because she is a Parselmouth. You know you are being irrational, you're acting out on purpose. I don't know why you are but you are. Why does it matter that she can communicate with snakes or even dragons? Open your eyes and see what is right in front of you," Remus said in an angry hiss. "You are doing nothing but putting more distance between Raven and yourself, you are being a hypocrite, you are friends with a werewolf, a dark creature. One which you claim is not like the rest. You are from a dark family, yet you believe you are not like the rest. Why can Raven not be like you or I? Why can he not have an ability which is seen as dark yet she, herself be different to the past Parselmouths? If you don't stop this you will lose her completely. That is if you already haven't of course," Remus said, his voice almost a whisper.

Sirius had no response, he claimed into his bed and turned his back on his friend. His mind trying to understand why everyone was ganging up on him. He tried to understand everything, but most of all, he tried to convince himself that the dread and the guilt was nothing.

* * *

_**Hermione & Draco**_

"Charlie better take care of her," Draco said softly after seeing Charlie lead her through the door.

"He will do," Hermione reassured the blonde male.

"It isn't even my story and it took a lot out of me," Draco said with a shaky laugh.

"Raven's home life will do that to you I guess," Hermione frowned.

"Did you really not know anything about it?"

"Nothing," Hermione said.

"I guess we know why she eats so little now," Draco sighed as he sat down on one of the single beds.

Hermione frowned, he mind going back over every meal that Raven ate with her. It was true, Raven ate a lot less than everyone around her. She also ate slowly, almost as though she was scared of the food, taking time to thoroughly chew eat mouthful (which was not ever a full mouthful) before taking a drink of whatever beverage was around. Hermione shook her head, he remembered worrying about her friend having an eating disorder, then again, the chances are that due to the treatment she had at the Dursley's it was just normal for her to eat like that, like she was someone suffering from a sever eating disorder.

"She won't change," Hermione sighed.

"She will, it will just take time," Draco said, trying to project, what he felt was false hope, into his friend.

"I think we should try to sleep," Draco said softly after a few moments of silence. Hermione nodded blankly as she laid back on the bed.

* * *

_**Charlie & Raven**_

Charlie smiled as he saw Raven fall back on the bed he had carefully sat her on. Sitting at the bottom of the bed he slowly began to take off the shoes Raven had been wearing.

"You don't need to do that," her sleepy voice reached his ears. Looking up at the younger female he couldn't help but shrug with a slight blush.

"You looked pretty out of it so I thought I'd help out," he admitted.

"Thank you," she whispered as she closed her eyes once more.

Charlie was about to say 'anytime' when a horrible thought struck him.

"Are you ok with me sharing the room, if not I can get Hermi –"

"It's ok," Raven said softly as her voice was taken over with sleep.

"I'm glad," Charlie smiled as he looked up at Raven, only to smile sadly, seeing her fast asleep.

"Sweet dreams," he said softly as he gently touched her leg before standing.

His heart was a mess, Charlie was torn between holding onto the young girl and never letting go and giving her the chance to go. A lump formed in his throat as he came to the conclusion that she was worth so much more than himself. Perhaps, there was some small chance that she would still consider him in the future, Charlie shook his head again as he laid down. He couldn't think like that.

* * *

_**Several Hours Later**_

Charlie woke up groggily as he heard quiet crying. It was the heartbroken, almost silent 'no' that made him sit up straight, waking him up completely.

Scanning the room he found Raven laid on her bed, tossing and turning as she whimpered, tears running down her defeated face. She began to grow even more restless, the sounds escaping her grew in volume.

Charlie quickly made his way over to the bed and held Raven down, stopping her injuring herself as she turned.

"Raven… Ray… come on… it's just a dream… wake up," Charlie whispered to her as he gently shook her shoulders, trying not to wake anyone else up, knowing that Raven would be embarrassed enough as it is with him witnessing this.

Tears began to leave Raven's closed eyes as her dreams continued to play out in her mind.

"Raven!" Charlie said loudly, before realizing he had done so. The girl in question opened her eyes with a gasp as tears fell quicker. She began to shake with the intensity of her tears.

Charlie wrapped his arms around her, turning so that they both were laid on their sides and held her to his chest before he pulled her into a sitting position.

"I can't do it," Raven whispered as Charlie began to rock her.

"Do what?" he asked gently. "Talking about it will help Ray, trust me."

"This… I can't read about it… it's too much," Raven became so overcome with tears that she was unable to talk. Charlie's heart sunk, was things really so bad? Did they get worse?

"We'll help you through it, everyone will," Charlie whispered to Raven.

"No," Raven whispered. "You can't… you… you… don't…"

"Ray, calm down. I'm here," Charlie whispered, cutting Raven off. "I won't do anything yet, I'm here."

"Stay?" Raven whispered as her eyes began to close once more.

"I will," Charlie whispered. He laid down, his arms still around Raven. "I'll stay as long as you want me to, I promise Ray," his words fell onto deaf ears as Raven was sleeping in his arms.

* * *

**_AN: Well, thank you everyone that reviewed, favourited and added me to their alerts._**

**_I hope you all liked this one, the next chapter might take a while to sort through!_**


	8. Chapter 8

**_AN: Hey guys! This is another short one, sorry but I am aware I'm running out of time (explained at the end!) and I didn't want to have to make you guys wait for another two weeks!_**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Raven stretched as she woke up, her head heavy and sore. With a resigned sigh she realised that she had spent some of the night crying in her sleep.

As she stretched, Raven realised how little she could move. With a look of confusion she looked around the room.

The bed Charlie had claimed was empty and judging by the heavy arm that laid across her, he was in the bed with her.

A strange emotion filled Raven, here she laid, being held. She didn't want to believe it, after all, what where the chances that someone like Charlie would do something like that.

'_It's probably out of pity, just like everything else he did yesterday,_' a dark voice sneered in the back of Raven's mind.

Shaking her head, Raven slowly moved out from under Charlie's arm. She smiled softly as she saw Charlie frown and reach for her.

Seeing another door in the room, she went to have a look. The place she was in had a bathroom, Raven almost laughed out loud at the thought. She was sure that a warm shower would help her get rid of her grogginess.

One shower later Raven was met with an empty room.

Outside in the larger room Hermione sat frowning at the letter in front of her.

_Hello! I hope you all slept well. My family and I have decided that we are going to offer you help. Before you begin reading again I suggest that you call Missy, she is a house-elf that agreed to return to your time to provide help._

_SD_

"What's with the long face?" Sirius asked in a tired voice as he sat opposite Hermione.

Somewhere behind her, Hermione heard Fred or George complaining about the lack of food.

"We've been given a house-elf," Hermione said.

"Great," Sirius said brightly.

"No," Hermione said firmly. "Not great. That poor creature is being made to serve people like a slave!"

"Hermione, house-elves live to work for families," Sirius said as Draco sat next to her.

"Their magic is recharged and restored by the family. The bond between the house-elf and the family is so strong and it does feel like the end of the world when the bond is broken," Draco said gently, finally wanting to get Hermione to understand.

"But –"

"No," Draco said. "I'm sure if you are that concerned you can talk to the house-elf being sent to us and they will tell you the exact same."

"What's the house-elf called?" Remus asked, thinking it would be best if he intervened before the argument broke out.

"It says Missy but –"

A pop sounded in the room. A young house-elf appeared. She had bright blue eyes.

"Miss asked for Missy?" she asked in a high-pitched voice.

"Missy, can you please get us some breakfast?" Draco smiled. Missy smiled back.

"Of course Sir, Missy will be right back," with another pop the house-elf was gone.

"She seems well treated," Sirius commented lightly.

"She shouldn't have to do any of this," Hermione grumbled.

"What's Hermione fussing about now?" Raven grumbled as she walked into the room.

"House-elves," Draco answered.

"Great," was the sarcastic reply that Raven had responded with.

"Missy brought toast Misses and Sir's!" Missy said as she popped back into the room. True to her word, Missy snapped her fingers and the table was filled with an enormous tray which held piles of buttered toast and toast with jam on.

"Finally!" George gasped as Fred gasped, "Thank the heavens!"

With that, they both jumped over to the table and took a large mound of toast.

"Idiots," Bill laughed as he took a relatively smaller amount than his brothers. Charlie, smiling at his siblings also followed in Bill's footsteps by taking a smaller amount.

Everyone slowly helped themselves to the toast, each thanking Missy, who beamed with pride.

"Misses and Sir's need to keep reading. Missy is going now. Missy has a job to do for future Mistress and Master. Yous just call if you need Missy!" the young elf said happily before disappearing.

"So," Remus coughed. "We continuing with the book?"

"I guess so, I'll read next if you want?" Bill smiled.

"That would be great," Remus smiled as Bill took the book.

* * *

**_AN: Ok, well I don't really like this chapter, but I'm going to hope it was ok._**

**_Now, the next update will not be in the next week. I shall be taking part in GISHWHES (the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Seen!) so I doubt I will have a lot of time to spare for this story but I will update as soon as I can!_**

**_If anyone else reading this story is also taking part, I wish you the best of luck. Embrace the madness! For the rest of you, good luck and stay sane!_**


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